#still not completely satisfied with this sketch so it is still just linework and sketchiness | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

houseofvans · 5 years

Photo

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | INTERVIEW WITH NICOLE MOMANEY

Through beautifully depicted and realistically rendered images of flora and fauna, LA based artist Nicole Momaney’s paintings are both dark, peaceful and highly symbolic. Interested in ideas of death and transformation, Nicole’s paintings are meditations on death and dying, and through her process of creating this art does it become not an idea to be feared or avoided, but rather something that is natural, approachable and beautiful. With works in La Luz de Jesus’s 33rd annual group show, Laluzapalooza, opening Friday, March 1st, Nicole is busy busy, so we’re excited to catch up with her to talk more about her art and process.

Take the leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself. My name is Nicole Momaney. I work under the name Spirited Animals as a painter in the lovely city of Los Angeles in a rad studio space called Bill’s Bar with several other artists.

What’s your background as an artist? Were you self taught or did you attend an art school? I went to school for Illustration at MassArt in Boston.

How would you describe your work to someone who isn’t familiar with it? What would you say your art is about? Or rather what topics and themes do your works tend to touch upon? I’d describe my work as a little dark and highly symbolic. Everything I paint is based on reality, mainly flora and fauna, that I reconstruct/reorient in ways to drive home the meaning of the painting. Most of my artwork deals with death and transformation. I feel that culturally the western world has essentially swept death under the rug. This is, of course, a privilege many other people in the world don’t have, but it comes at a great price that directly feeds our disconnection to the natural world and encourages insane levels of fear based thinking. We don’t openly grieve. We barely discuss it. We have neat little gatherings where hardly anyone cries, and we make perfectly curated speeches about our loved ones that may or may not reflect the reality of who they were. And then we are buried under the ground in a box where, rather than feeding the milieu and cultivating new life, we quietly decompose, completely separated from the place we came from. (I am speaking generally here of course, I recognize there are exceptions.) Through it all, there is this shadow lurking in the corner waiting for you to acknowledge its hand in the situation, and even honor it, because someday that hand is going to touch you, too. Most of my paintings are my way of trying to come to terms with this and meet death in a place that I find approachable and beautiful in a sense.

What do you think made you gravitate toward painting as a medium? What about painting do you enjoy overall perhaps other mediums? Maybe the paint chose me? Hahaha. I guess for me color is HUGE. I love color and paint is the ideal way to express that. I also really enjoy linework but in the context of a rendered image. Nothing makes me happier than taking that tiny 0 round brush and adding the final flowing detail lines to an image. It’s seriously my happy place. Lana Del Rey, Cadmium Red Light and a 0 round brush...heaven.

Is there a medium you’ve yet to try and you’d love to one day explore? Tattooing actually! I love the idea of the body as canvas and marking it with something permanent. The entire process is very alchemical/ritualistic to me. I love getting tattooed and am really into the idea of experiencing the other end of that exchange.

When you’re working on a new piece, what’s the process like for you? Do you work from sketches or models or various references? My process starts out a bit scattered. Sometimes I have a particular animal or plant that has a connection to my personal mythology I’d like to explore. Other times I’ll have a specific idea in mind and will research flora and fauna that appropriately supports the concept symbolically.

I then source images and do a bit of digital collage and painting. This is how I create the initial image. I then transfer that image onto canvas and start painting. Sometimes the finished painting will look almost exactly like the digital, sometimes I’ll make tons of changes during the actual painting process.

In your studio or creative area, what type of things do you keep around to inspire you or keep you motivated? Currently I have a nautilus shell, a beautiful emerald green scarab I found, a few crystals, a mini taxidermied leather elk, a deer leg and my Tibetan prayer flags I got in the Himalayas. I’m also lucky enough to be surrounded by other artists and their work which is energetically inspiring. I worked alone in my room for years and years. Having a studio space with other people has been awesome.

What’s your best art tip you can share with folks? Best art tip - if it isn’t working don’t force it. Don’t be afraid to change something.

What kind of advice would you give someone who is interested in becoming an artist? I’d say do whatever you can to put yourself in a place where you’re doing something artistic as much as possible. I can’t overstate that the more you put in the more you’ll get out. For me that meant making a lot of sacrifices and opting out of a lot of comfortable situations. Art is uncomfortable. Growth in general is uncomfortable really, so art is fantastic for people who want to continually grow and push themselves.

When you’re not making art, what else do you do that you find creatively satisfying? Or how do you just like to spend your quiet time? I love hiking. Spending time in nature, particularly the mountains, is essential to staying balanced for me. It’s like a recharge. I also love going out and supporting my friends in their creative endeavors–music, art, food, drink etc.

What are you constantly inspired by? And who are some of your early and current art influences? I’m forever and always inspired by nature. Early art influences (and still very relevant to me): Mark Ryden, Odd Nerdrum, Dave McKean, Joe Sorren, Walton Ford. Current influences: Allison Summers, Lauren Marx, Martin Wittfooth, Elizabeth McGrath, Tiffany Bozic, Adrian Baxter, Aaron Horkey...tons more

Who would you love to see interviewed for our next Art School? That’s a tough question! Keep it coming with the ladies though. It’s awesome to see so many women being recognized and lauded in the art scene now.

What are your FAVORITE Vans? Definitely slip-ons. I lived in checkerboard slip-ons for years.

What do you have coming up that you can share? I'm showing paintings at Laluzapalooza at La Luz de Jesus opening this Friday 3/1 from 8-11 pm. I have a few paintings I’m working on for upcoming shows in 2019. So keep posted!

FOLLOW NICOLE | INSTAGRAM | ETSY

#Art #Vans #Vans Girls #Vans Art #Nicole Momaney #Painting #interview #Nature #Animals #Mystical

37 notes · View notes