As an avid consumer of online content I am fascinated by the dynamics between online creators and their audiences.

In particular, the phenomenon that is often experienced by successful online creators where, as their audience grows, the division between themselves and their content begins to vanish.

This phenomenon often occurs as a result of cyclical investment by the audience and the creator in the relationship.

For instance, a successful creator meets the demand of a growing audience by investing more of themselves into their content.

Then, the audience invests more into the creator by consuming more content, engaging more personally with the creator, and championing the creator to other potential audience members; further growing the audience and spurring the creator on.

The cycle of audience engagement and creator investment fuels a positive feedback loop which culminates in the creator viewing more of their identity in the reception and production of their content, and the audience viewing the creator more as the content itself as opposed to the content creator.

Ultimately, this process conflates the content and the creator in the eyes of the audience and the creator.

This phenomenon is particularly intriguing in that it almost seems inevitable. After all, in the infinitely competitive space of online content, a creator would be considered foolish to refuse to invest in their content after having cultivated an audience.

Essence of the Creator is my attempt to aestheticize this phenomenon. It's my take on the creator and the content as a visual amalgam of one another in a manner that reflects both the investment of the creator, the engagement of the audience, and the inevitable conflation of the two.