Bearer of Truth

“The way to be your most authentic self is to lean into all that you hate about who you are,” 6ixx told me before disappearing to talk to another group at a work party. It’s not uncommon for artist/creator 6ixx to drop wisdom and then leave you alone to think about it. And wisdom was all that seemed to come out of 6ixx during our discussion at the BRO Space. Whenever I prepare for an interview with an artist, my hope is that our conversation somehow finds its way back to what identity is and its purpose in creating art. I’ve held the belief that many creators far too often get high off their own identity of being an artist rather than continually digging deeper through the art itself. 6ixx is a man who’s experienced many identities throughout many communities, and that’s gotten him comfortable with change.

“I was grappling with my own identity, watching myself continuously transform in different environments that, traditionally growing up, I didn’t see myself in,” he shares with me. He’s lived in the South, the North, traveled abroad, left communities, returned to communities, and made new communities. He’s a painter, a musician, a writer, a performer. But above all else, he prefers to just be a creator—someone who, when truth calls, captures it in whatever medium is best at that moment. “[Art has] always been a bearer of truth and how we can interpret it.”

And that truth, whether people like it or not, is always going to be political, philosophical, and, at its best, revolutionary. Anime is a passion that 6ixx and I share, and recent events of political movements across the world raising the “Straw Hat Pirates” flag from One Piece sparked our conversation about art and revolution. “Art and revolution tie itself in because revolution needs symbolisms,” he states. “We idolize things that we wish were attainable to us. And sometimes people in power use identity to manipulate that and say this too can be yours if you move like me, act like me. And so a lot of that is some type of programming.” We are creatures designed to influence and be influenced. Art is the representation, the highest form of communication, in the battles of influence. It pierces through normal dialogue and speaks to matters of the heart and soul. “The greatest technology has been the human brain and the human soul,” he tells me.

Over the course of an hour, we went on many tangents, but the element I want to end on is leadership. What makes a good leader, and why do so many people in power cling to their leadership? Why are they so afraid of the next generation? I think it’s because each generation, if raised right, pushes further than the last was ever comfortable with doing. So 6ixx has a simple answer to what makes a good leader: “The best leader is the one that empowers you to be yourself.”