decorative image with the title and a picture of George Wilkerson

69. Volume: George Wilkerson: Artist

Art is subjective. When you view a piece of art or read a poem or story, you take your own thoughts and experiences and project them onto the subject at hand. An artist can grow immensely from playing on the feedback they receive.

In this volume of The Psychology of Entrepreneurship

George Wilkerson has won numerous awards for his poetry and writing. All from prison.

If you’ve caught our past volumes on the prison system or death row inmates, you won’t be surprised by the residential status of this volume’s guest. George Wilkerson is on North Carolina’s Death Row for a double homicide conviction in 2009. As co-author of Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row, George is obviously a writer. But he’s also a poet and a visual artist. Although imprisoned, George has entered and won several publication contests. His various works have been featured online, including on The Marshall Project. As an artist, George views everything he creates as a way to connect not only with his inner self but also with the outside world.

In this volume, George helps me explore the topic of artists and art. He shares insights from the feedback he’s received over the years and how it’s made him reexamine his approach. He tells me all about how the art he creates is intended to broaden perspectives instead of bringing him praise. This guy explains things in such an articulately abstract way that makes mind-blowing sense. I’ll remember this conversation for years to come.

Also within this volume:decorative image with the quote: The compulsion to create, it’s irresistible in me. I can’t fight it, it has to come out.
  • The kind of headspace George needs to be creative
  • The process from picture to poem
  • Humans as self-contained universes
  • Poetry as Storytelling
  • The artist’s brain
  • Tessie Castillo’s thoughts on George
Links & Resources:

Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row

The Marshall Project: George’s Writing

BBC News: Artists Have Structurally Different Brains

Psychology Today: Art Therapy in Prison is Social Justice

Volume 63: Terry Robinson

Volume 64: Tessie Castillo

We want to hear your podcasting questions! Send them through to kaili@amplifyagency.media to get featured on the show. Or slide into our DM’s on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mustamplifyagency.

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Author: Ronsley Vaz

Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.

He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.

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