Is art enough? Anyone dedicated to artistic creation has likely asked themselves this question at some point. This question is difficult to contend with for many reasons. Each person has their own priorities and goals, and everyone will have something different to say about it. For women, the question is often compounded by unique challenges, including children, relationships and other societal roadblocks that complicate the pursuit.
Corpus Christi native Stephanie Elizondo Griest, now a self-proclaimed “art monk,” spent 10 years exploring that very question. The quest became the foundation for her sixth book, “Art Above Everything.” Her journey took her around the world, where she interviewed incredible women from all walks of life, who, like herself, had given up almost everything in pursuit of their creative callings.
“Over the course of the decade I worked on this project, I watched more and more women lose their autonomy—especially women of color, queer women and trans women,” Griest said. “That injustice fueled this book into being. It celebrates the miracle of our existence.”
As a child, Griest was always enamored with the idea of exploring the world. Her father, a drummer in the Navy band, had traveled all around the globe and could pick out any country on a map and tell his daughter about it.
“Growing up in Corpus Christi in the 80s and 90s, I could not wait to leave. Wanderlust pumped in my veins,” she shared.
Beginning her journey as a foreign exchange student in Moscow, Griest observed the native peoples of the former Soviet Union. She realized the native peoples’ discrimination for upholding their customs was very similar to what happened in her own homeland. “It made me feel left out for not building a relationship with my Mexican ancestry.”
That realization led Griest to write her first book, “Around the Bloc,” about her travels and discoveries in the nations of the former Soviet Union. Later, she returned to South Texas to write her book “All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands” about what is lost in the liminal space between borders, in which time she fell in love with Corpus Christi.
“Corpus Christi will always be my home,” Griest said. With that in mind, she felt it fitting to return home to share these stories of women beating the odds to live their truths.
For opportunities to celebrate her newest book, Griest has two local events planned this month. On June 27, K-Space Contemporary Art Gallery will host a performance and signing, where Griest will show slides and video footage of the women highlighted in the book from 6-8 p.m. For a reading and signing event, head to Barnes & Noble the next day, June 28, at 2 p.m.
