Artist Spotlight: Jaquie Campos
The Appalachian Preservation Project is proud to present Jacquie Campos as this week’s artist spotlight.
Tell me about your background. Who are you at your core? Why did you start creating?
I grew up in a large, creative family of women. Creation is an inherent part of girlhood, so I've been at it since the very beginning.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve always been a writer and I hope I always will be.
Why did you begin pursuing writing and theater professionally?
I never meant to pursue writing and theatre professionally, as they don't lend themselves well to being professions, but a girl's got to eat and those are the only things I want to do. It's dangerous to make a craft a career, so I try to avoid thinking about it as much as possible and pray I never need the health insurance I don't have.
What is the most challenging part of your craft? The most rewarding part?
The most challenging part of my craft is chasing it through the woods. Storytelling is an endurance sport distinctly suited to humanity. The most rewards parts of writing is the sense weaving something together. When you're doing it right, you feel like you've got your fingers all tied up in the fabric of time.
What artists inspire you the most?
Oh, oh! I could talk for days about the artists that inspire me. Maybe months. I have an appetite for that sort of thing that makes me want to tape my eyes open. I should mention Annie Dillard first. I can't read Annie Dillard without having to drastically change my life. I read Holy the Firm and somehow both started and stopped believing in god. I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and put in my notice at work. Folks online like to say I'm a modern Thoreau, but I think that's a very far stretch. If I'm generous though, there's a line to be drawn from Thoreau to Annie to maybe one day me.
Then there's Hozier, of course, of course. There are worlds in his music. I want to go to all of them, but very cruelly, they don't exist so I have to play pretend well enough until I'm there.
And I'd be remiss not to mention the nameless artists, the women crocheting blankets that end up at goodwill, the kids doodling on desks, the people who don't sign their work but leave little masterpieces everywhere. I mean, I'm alive some days for the sole purpose of seeing those things. They're wonderful. Life is wonderful.
What life experiences inform your craft?
All of my work is informed by the lives of the women around me. We're all finding our way with our mother's maps and my work reflects that.
How do you hope your art impacts people?
I just want people, when they experience my work, to feel okay.
What has been the most personally impactful moment in your career so far?
The most impactful moment is a secret, so sorry. However, it was fairly impactful to escape Florida. The transition from children's pastor in Jacksonville, Florida to aspiring woods witch in Appalachia wasn't easy, but I'm a much better human for it. I like myself a lot more. I'm making better mistakes.
Who or what inspires you most?
Circle back to questions 5 and 6, with a special and specific shout out to all of my sisters. Also, the river.
