Our art-making friendship has evolved to the point where we've each become invested in a version of the other person's creative identity, and I think we're both performing the artist we think our friend needs us to be instead of just making the work that's actually emerging for us.
More people experience this than they realize.
Your care for each other's artistic development has become a subtle form of creative control that constrains both of your evolutions.
“Where Are You with Japanese aesthetics — wabi-sabi mono no aware yugen?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.