WEBVTT

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So here we are.

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I'm at home, as I'm sure
many of you are, too.

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And we've all begun to understand

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how our relationship with ourselves,

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with each other

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and the spaces we exist in

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can deeply impact
our sense of identity and purpose.

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So much has dramatically changed.

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There's a sense of distance now
unlike ever before.

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But what if I told you

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that you could find a way
from your heart to your hand

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to reconnect again,

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and that through this practice
and embracing this cause,

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I could help you to recalibrate your mind

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so that you could explore
this new reality with joy,

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enthusiasm, imagination and hope?

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And all it would take is a simple pen.

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To get you there,

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let's go back to the beginning.

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As a kid growing up in a council estate
in Southeast London,

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I was an outsider.

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I'm the oldest of six kids,

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and all of my siblings look very English:

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blond hair, blue eyes, very cute.

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And then there was me:

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half Nigerian, brown, with an Afro.

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So what happens when you look different

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and you feel different,

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and in many ways,
start to think differently

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from everyone and everything around you?

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How do you find your way
out of a dark, racist, homophobic

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and very lonely place?

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This is where the pen comes in.

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I started to draw.

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So as you can see, I've got this pen,

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and it knows where it's going.

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And I've learned very well
how to follow it.

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And the first thing I did is
I followed this line,

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and I drew myself out of a culture

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that was only telling me
what I couldn't do.

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I trusted my pen,

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and it led me to Central Saint Martin's,

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a very fancy art school in London,

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where I graduated top of my year.

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However, I soon realized
there wasn't a place for me in London,

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because whether you wish
to believe it or not,

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England is still a country
that is rooted and functions within

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the class system.

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And as a young, black, gay female artist
from a working-class family,

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I didn't stand a chance.

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So I left London and I moved to Japan,

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where I didn't experience
people asking me where I was really from.

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I was just another gaijin,

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which, ironically, means "outsider."

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I was immersed in a culture
that honors both making and craft,

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where people perfect their craft
over generations.

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It's a culture that masters
both time and space,

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so that artists can truly
create with freedom.

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And what I discovered
was a place I wasn't angry with.

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Tokyo hadn't wronged me in any way.

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I could no longer create with anger

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or out of pain.

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I had to bravely allow myself
to create from a different place.

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And what I found is this incredible tool

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transcended a line on paper.

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I found this thing

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that connected my head to my heart

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and my hand to everything.

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I could see the world in new ways.

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I found connections in corners

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and the solutions to problems
I never knew existed.

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It's like the world with all its
positive and negative spaces

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could now be seen.

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And just by seeing it,

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there was no longer any fear.

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It's like my pen was a flashlight,

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and the unknown was still there,

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but it wasn't scary.

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After five years of living in Japan
and focusing on my craft,

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I felt like I needed a new challenge.

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So I moved to New York,

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because that's what you do
as an artist, right?

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You move to the greatest
city in the world

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that has the ability

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to make you feel
completely and utterly invisible.

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This is when I began to truly ask myself,

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"Who are you?"

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I would wake up in the morning,
and before I began my day,

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I would meditate on this.

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And with this question in mind,

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I kept drawing.

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I followed the line.

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I let it lead the way.

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The process of picking up a pen,

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something everyone has access to,

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the act of giving myself
permission to let go

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of all thoughts, all fears,
insecurities --

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anything that would get in the way

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of allowing myself to be completely me --

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that became my way
of experiencing freedom.

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When I got to New York,

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I didn't want to play by the rules
of the art world.

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I continued my practice as an outsider.

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I kept drawing.

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Curiosity became the ink for my pen,

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and I continued to dive deeper.

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Over time, I began to create
a bold, confident space for myself,

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a space that was all my own.

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Initially, it was just my bedroom.

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But that bedroom ended up
in "The New York Times,"

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and suddenly, I was being seen and known

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for this world I had created.

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Since then,

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I've created and collaborated
with some of the most unique artists,

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institutions and spaces,

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from the screens of Times Square,

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to the New York City Ballet
for their incredible artist series,

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where I interviewed a number of dancers.

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Their stories and words
became the foundation

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of over 30 drawings and artworks,

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which took over the promenade walls,

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windows and floors.

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For a long time,

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I wanted to create a space
for contemplation and poetry.

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And in 2019,

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I was given the opportunity
to do just that

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by the Trust of Governor's Island.

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They provided me with the perfect canvas

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in the form of a former military chapel.

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Meet "The May Room."

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With drawings on the exterior
inspired by the history of the island,

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you walk inside, you take your shoes off,

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and there's a drawing on the floor
in the form of a maze

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that brings you back to you.

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It's an invitation to become calm.

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And this allows you
to see phrases on the wall.

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"May you be wise."

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"May you sleep soundly at night."

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"May we save trees."

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"May you," "may you," "may we."

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And these phrases seem
like they're rising from you

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or falling into you.

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I've let my lines
become much like a language,

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a language that has unfolded
much like life.

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And when there has been silence,

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I've sought connection
through conversation,

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asking questions to push
through the discomfort.

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Drawing has taught me
how to create my own rules.

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It has taught me to open my eyes
to see not only what is,

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but what can be.

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And where there are broken systems,

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we can create new ones
that actually function and benefit all,

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instead of just a select few.

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Drawing has taught me
how to fully engage with the world.

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And what I've come to realize
through this language of lines

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is not the importance of being seen,

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but rather the gift of seeing
that we give to others

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and how true freedom
is the ability to see.

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And I don't mean that literally,

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because sight is only one way
in which one can see.

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But what I mean is to experience
the world in its entirety,

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maybe even more so
during the most challenging moments

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like the one we face today.

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I'm Shantell Martin.

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I draw.

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And I invite you to pick up a pen

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and see where it takes you.

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(Music)