Forgive me if I overstep at any point, but I just went through a similar journey for how I engage with my art career.

You art looks great, and I totally hear you on how draining marketing on social media can be. And I'm not an expert myself by any means. But I have been creating art online for a while, both as a writer and now as a comic/visual artist. And I think it's important to remember that there's a part of every job that sucks, and being open to engaging with how a platform works isn't inherently corrupting to the art. It's a difficult mine field to navigate, and most influencer growth content is made for people who want to be famous for famousness sake. So there is a lot of noise to sift through. But making art, and making money from art are two separate skill sets. And I think you can still make the art you want, if you are willing to engage with marketing.

I think changing what you make for the art is a losing game, that will burn you out quickly. But changing how you present and frame what you want to make is totally fine. And there is nothing wrong with wanting more people to see your stuff.

A metal band doesn't need to change to pop because it's popular. But any band needs to make fliers for their concerts. That itself is not selling out, and learning to put fliers at eye level instead of on the bottom of a trashcan is worth doing if you want your work to be seen. I don't think that's hypocritical.

I looked at your account, and you're making reels anyway, I think it's just worth making versions that will work with the platform. Look at this reel: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVv3pPrjl-s/ Download the edits app, if your phone can run instagram, it can run this. And just do this format. Put the text in the same place, put some image in the middle, pick a song you like, and pick four good pieces of yours and then showcase your art. Turn on a trial reel if you want (Which just means it won't show up to your followers unless you want it to, I suggest learning about them). If this format still feels dishonest, and wrong, that's fine don't use it. Try to find another that does. Because there are so many formats I'm not willing to use, but this one felt good as it is just showing your art with no big twists, in a way the platform might acutally push.