I Must

M'Kiyah A. Baird

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas.

Dimensions: 16" x 20"

Public Domain artwork referenced in this piece:

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Briefe an einen jungen Dichter. Leipzig : Insel-Verl, 1929.

Artist Statement

"[...] Ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple "I must," then build your life in accordance with this necessity: your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse." (Rilke 6)

Inspired by concepts from Letters to A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, I Must visualizes the need of an artist to spend time finding themselves as a creative and build their life around the thing that drives them. Rilke defines artistry as the confidence in knowing you are an artist, not fearing when the next idea will come or when you may grow. It does come. Because it must. Art is a part of you, it is you. And to be great, you must carry that confidence into everything you do.

About the Artist: M'Kiyah A. Baird

Integrated Design & Media, Tandon School of Engineering, Graduate Student ’2027

M'Kiyah A. Baird is a black American artist born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Having received her undergraduate degree from Transylvania University, she is now pursuing her graduate degree in Integrated Design & Media at New York University Tandon School of Engineering. Enjoying both the arts and technology, she works in multiple traditional and digital mediums and often explores themes of color, nature, race, and other topics.

Footnote

To access an English language version of Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke:

https://search.library.nyu.edu/permalink/01NYU_INST/1d6v258/alma990081860200107876 

Citation for English version:

Rilke, Rainer Maria, Franz Xaver Kappus, Joan M Burnham, and Kent Nerburn. Letters to a Young Poet. 2nd ed. Novato: New World Library, 2000. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nyulibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5840425 

*Please note that only the German version Briefe an einen jungen Dichter, originally published in 1929, is in the public domain.