Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayte Demont.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I graduated from Gettysburg College in 2012 with a degree in English and Art. From there I lived in Boston, then Los Angeles, then Denver and now Austin! Over the past decade, I’ve been working in content creation and social media branding strategy, mostly for myself as a freelancer. For almost eight years I founded and ran my own lifestyle and music blog called Mass Musings. It was an incredible learning experience but ultimately, I decided to end its legacy – coincidentally three months before the pandemic hit. I felt like it was a sign from the universe to take on a full time job at an LGBTQ publication and reset my goals for a little while. Now, I’m back to doing art full time and running my curated store called WCKD COLLECTIVE! It’s been a really crazy ride, but I wouldn’t trade all of the education and experience for anything.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It may seem like it has been from an outsider’s perspective. I have a lot to be grateful for and when I reflect back, it’s easier to see the positive things. But if I’m being fully transparent, it has been a struggle. There have been days where I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent and there have been days where I’ve lost gigs or made mistakes. Those moments can get pretty dark but at the end of the day, I believe that if you’re really passionate about something and you refuse to fail, success will come to you.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My love for the arts has been a part of me since I can remember. I started my dance career at age two. I danced seriously all the way through high school and then switched to sports. After earning a spot on my collegiate swim team, I realized that I missed the arts so I joined the dance team, started singing in an acapella group and added a Studio Art minor to my English major. In addition to my dance background, my mother is a retired art teacher and an interior designer so I’ve always had supplies at my fingertips. Because of that, it took me a while to figure out what I was really passionate about/ what I wanted to focus on. I’m interested in SO many things that it can be overwhelming. I’m probably best known for my photography and creative direction but these days I’m fully immersed in painting. I began painting more seriously a little over a year ago and it’s been a consistent upward trajectory from there. For me, painting is therapeutic. I gravitate more towards abstract concepts and loose, fluid movements to capture and process what I’m feeling. When you look at my work, you can tell what part of my life it’s from by what kinds of colors and designs I incorporate.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Community is everything. I’ve always been a community builder – I genuinely love people – but it’s become even more paramount than ever for us to find new ways of human connection. I’ve actually been thinking about the impacts of COVID on my art a lot recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that I think humans are more open to investing in art because they’re spending more time at home, but also because we are collectively being forced to reckon with a lot of our inner work that still needs to be done. Art helps to make sense of the overwhelming and philosophical thoughts in our minds. Maybe art is the new generation’s anxiety meds I don’t know haha!
Contact Info:
- Email: wckdcollective@gmail.com
- Website: http://wckdcollective.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/kaytedemont
- Facebook: http://instagram.com/wckdcollective
Image Credits
Rachael Sabell (the first photo of me)
