Art can be transformative when artists take an active role in what ultimately is an ongoing creative process. If you’re still copying others or repeating your own early successes, you’re not growing. It’s difficult to recognize when your creative work is derivative of the limited influences closest to you, unless you make moves toward expanding your frame of reference. Seek feedback from other artists. Take ownership of your tastes by studying the greats, even those whose work may not align perfectly with your own interests, and most certainly those whose work stands as a direct affront to the meaning and purpose you search for through your creative endeavors. The smaller your frame of reference, the more likely you are to endlessly repeat what you already know, which ultimately is merely yourself. Self-indulgence is a tricky thing, because it super-charges the ego, but it does absolutely nothing for growth.
– MJJ
