Creator Spotlight: Sierra Madison
Q: Can you introduce yourself to those that may not know you?
A: Of course, yeah! I’m Sierra, founder & editor-in-chief of See You Next Tuesday. I started this magazine as a passion project and it quickly grew into its own community, which I am forever grateful for. Most of my time is spent writing, both poetry and fiction, as well as continuing to teach myself illustrator to further my graphic design passion. After graduating last year I’ve dedicated my time to writing and fostering my creativity through different mediums. I’ve been able to start freelancing and pursuing different interests that fulfill me and allows for me to continue to run SYNT. I’m still figuring out a lot about myself and where I see my journey going, but so far I’m enjoying the ride and letting it take me where I need to go.
Q: Can you describe what See You Next Tuesday is?
A: See You Next Tuesday Media is a digital (and hopefully physical soon!) collective for creative folks to express themselves freely and feel apart of a community of like-minded individuals. With COVID, I find it can be hard to connect with people who share similar passions and perspectives. SYNT started as an outlet for my friends and I to share parts of us that we hadn’t even really shared with even ourselves yet, let alone each other, and through that process we deepened both our friendships and understanding of one another, and that was the moment I realized that this collective can be so much more for so many other people outside my group of friends.
Q: What made you decide to start pursuing such a creative line of work?
A: I’ve always been creative and have spent a lot of time experimenting with different mediums, and what I loved about the idea of creating a media collective was the endless possibilities of expression through it, whether that’s writing, illustration, photography, etc. Being able to express myself in an array of different methods if what really pushed me towards starting SYNT, cause I know a lot of creatives struggle with similar feelings so I wanted there to be something that didn’t force people to confide to a specific box or expectation.
if i bared my soul to you / what would you see? | a poem by Sierra Madison
Q: What’s your favourite part about running See You Next Tuesday?
A: My favourite part by far is giving young creatives the freedom to explore their identity and emotions through art, in whatever medium speaks to them most. I personally know the power in sharing your work, and journey, with a community, and how comforting it can be. It pushes you towards growth, and love, and acceptance, and being able to give people the opportunity to do that, and to share such intimate parts of themselves with our community, continues to bring me joy, everyday.
Q: Where would you like to see your brand this time next year
A: I would love to just see our community grow, and give more people the opportunity to submit to us and join our movement. We have a print issue in the works, and a lot of exciting plans upcoming that I can’t wait to share, but in short, I just hope to see our community grow, and to give more young folks the opportunity to express themselves.
Q: Do you find it hard to stay motivated in today’s climate, with COVID & lockdowns and the whole world seeming to continuously flip upside down?
A: Yeah for sure, it’s hard to stay motivated when it seems like each day something is changing and there’s a lack of clear direction to where the future is heading. Luckily, as a writer, there’s also a lot of natural angst and confusion that comes with that, which ends up making for some interesting pieces and poetry. I guess amidst all the confusion and anger that’s circulating I try my best to shuffle through it by viewing it with a creative lens, and forcing myself to create even when I don’t want to. But I think its totally natural to be discouraged and unmotivated, and there are for sure days I sit in bed doing nothing feeling like I’m wasting my time. It’s a balance, and I think everyone is just figuring it out.
Q: Last but not least, can you tell us a bit about how being able to share your work with this community has influenced you as both personally and as a creative/artist?
A: When I first started sharing my writing online through SYNT, I was terrified thinking about real people reading my work, especially since most readers were my friends and followers. Sharing such intimate parts of yourself is always a frightening experience, and I felt an even heavier pressure since I was writing about very specific experiences in my life: heartbreak, self-love, moving on, navigating life as a young adult. I was reflecting on these intimate parts of my life and my experiences through my writing and then publishing them for just anyone to read: it felt like baring myself naked to the world, like ‘Here I am, all the nitty gitty ugly parts of myself, I hope you don’t hate me’. The scariest part is always just putting yourself out there, but since starting to publish more of what I write and create on social media, I’ve developed more confidence about what I do and who I am. When I’m writing I’m simultaneously finding myself, I leave little bits and pieces of who I am to be picked up on between the lines, and its a therapeutic practice to me. Now, my terror is replaced with excitement, mostly internal, to just be able to share these pieces of myself with the world. It’s made me a better writer, and taught me so much more about self love than I think I ever really realized.
a poem not about love | a poem by Sierra Madison
Follow Sierra on Instagram: @sierramadison.jpg / @signednsealedbysierra
and Twitter: @sierramadison.jpg