Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Ellery Anderson.
Hi Dylan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I have always been a creative person, and both my parents have had consistent creative practices in their lives, separate from their careers, such as painting and photography. I am starting to accept that I am a creative that is interested in a variety of mediums that I’ve been practicing with since I was young. Daily writing, image making, and when I’m feeling especially creative, object making.
When I was elementary school-aged, my mom pursued her master’s in photography, and I was around cameras a lot. I begged her to let me use her DSLR and to play with her Lomography film cameras starting at 8 or 9 years old and I took every photography class available from middle school to college. I spent a lot of time in art museums with my dad, growing up in the museum district, and many pivotal moments in forming my creative identity happened at the Menil Collection in Houston. I always thought I was going to be a marine biologist with my love of animals and the ocean.
Today, I am committed to following my passions and dreams, especially in the arts, and supporting others in fulfilling their dreams and goals. I am dedicated to self-expression, self-connection, and connection with others, and I am committed to sharing my skills talents, and knowledge that in any way facilitates or supports others’ self-expression and connection. I do this through reading tarot and encouraging people to live the life they dream about, as well as through the arts. Not only do I make objects and spaces with the intention of expression and reflection, but I also love arts education and sharing my skills with others so that they can express themselves and manifest their ideas, dreams, and desires. Right now, I am pursuing my arts practice with photography, writing, and object making. I love to read tarot and make jewelry that I sell at markets. On the weekends, I work at a gallery and support the gallerist Pablo Cardoza at the Pablo Cardoza Gallery with whatever he may need to continue to run the gallery, which supports emerging and experimental artists in Houston.
I got to this place from having continued exposure to the arts at a young age. My dad lived in the museum district when I was growing up, and I remember having many paradigm-shifting moments at the Menil Collection. The first of which was in the Cy Twombly building at around 5 years old. I was in awe of the large wall paintings, and I have never seen something like that before. At that time, I was so interested in writing and watercolors and pastels, as I still am, and that was the first time I had the innate subconscious idea that my art could be in a museum like that. And in 2023 and 2022, I got to show some of my sculptures at the Blaffer Museum in Houston, Texas. After my young art experience at the Cy Twombly building, around 14 years old, I went to the Byzantine Chapel with my mom. We saw the Infinity Machine by Janet Cardiff, and I had a moment where I found myself expanding and feeling more deeply connected with myself and the world while experiencing that installation. Hundreds of vintage mirrors hung in a tornado-like spiral going up 20 feet in the air, rotating slowly with sounds of outer space playing in the background, dark, with only a few dim spotlights. I remember catching my reflection in a far, small, vintage mirror and thinking, “How many other people stared at themselves in that mirror? Over how many years?” and just via that experience, I was deeply connected to myself and the world around me, throughout time and space. I left that room feeling expanded like there was more room inside of me, and I realized that art could leave a lasting impact on people. Throughout my school experience, while I was very creatively talented, I was really passionate about and good at science and math, and my parents supported me in that profession. Regardless of my passion and talent with science and math, my intuition always led me back to art and creating. A few years later, at 17 years old, I attended the WonderWorks summer program for art history at Rice University, and we got to tour the restoration department for the Menil collection. We talked to a conservator who had studied chemistry before choosing to go into art restoration, and that moment was the first time I considered I could have a career in the arts because of how committed to science I had been. At 19, I was at the University of Houston and took the leap of faith to study graphic design because it was the highest-paying arts major. At 22, I got into the BFA Sculpture program because I decided to do what felt best to me. And that decision has led me to where I am now, with a 2D and 3D design and fabrication skill set, making art and installations, doing what I love, and supporting others in doing what they love in the Houston arts community.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Overcoming the stigma of studying art has been a big struggle for me as someone who was always really academically inclined. I studied at Carnegie Vanguard High School which is one of the top 10 public high schools in the nation and is a magnet school for academics. I was doing college-level work at 14, and in getting my degree in sculpture, I received some judgemental comments about what I was going to do with that degree or that I phoned it in. I have to validate my intuition and my own path and validate the goals I’m working towards that people don’t even see yet. I know that I graduated Magna Cum Laude, and I know that I work hard, and I’m the only one I need to prove that to. I keep coming back to the fact that my life is my life, and I get to live the life that I want to live, and I will validate that other people deserve to live their dream lives, too. And anyone who says otherwise might just need more support in their own lives. Other than releasing external judgment, I’ve struggled with not having a car for a few years and relying on public transportation while I commit myself to pursuing my own businesses of art and tarot and other things. No matter what happens, I am grateful for my life, my health, my freedom, my community the opportunities presented to me, and the ability to act on them.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have both a designer and a fabricator skillset, working in 2D and 3D, which I can easily switch between. My intention was to develop a varied skillset since I’ve always had more than one interest in mediums and practices, so now I go back and forth between photography, object making, writing, and painting. I’ve always wanted to be able to do many different jobs with different skill sets and I realize I express this through doing my best to support others in their fields. Right now, I love reading tarot and selling my goods at markets. I work at the Pablo Cardoza Gallery on the weekends and help Pablo with anything he needs to maintain the gallery. I’ve worked at HTX Clay supporting an MFA Sculpture candidate from the University of Houston (where I graduated with my BFA in sculpture) start her ceramic studio business by working as a clay educator. I assisted some friends in the filming of Madeline the Person’s music video “Tantrum” this past summer by doing art direction and prop handling. I’ve really enjoyed doing installations of spaces and sculptures as well, such as having a couple of sculptures at the Blaffer Museum, creating an installation for Not Another Conspiracy, 1-hour long original performance at Post HTX, an installation at the Pablo Cardoza Gallery, amongst others.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I am open to all sorts of creative projects and collaborations of really any medium. I love and am open to creating visual art (mainly photography right now, but I have done ceramics, metalworking, paper craft, etc.), reading tarot, making installations, participating in a performance, as well as modeling and styling. I am interested in learning more about and working with film right now, so I am definitely open to any film projects, whether in front of the camera or behind. Basically, I want to express myself and help others express themselves and manifest their dreams in any way I can.
Pricing:
- 15-minute tarot reading for $25
- Jewelry starting at $20+
- Mini paintings starting at $75+
- Print pricing available upon request
- Event/photography pricing available upon request
Contact Info:
- Website: thankyou-goodmorning.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @thankyougoodmorning & @gardensprites
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/thankyougoodmorning111
- Other: patreon.com/ThankyouGoodmorningTarot
Image Credits
Ib Martinez
Lyric Baldridge
