AN INTERVIEW WITH… nicole elizabeth ounjian little
quarterly no. 2 cover artist
quarterly no. 2 cover artist
MILENA: Humor me and introduce yourself a little!
Hi! This is the hardest question. Even my name. I've never identified with my given name. But my dad chose it and he's my favourite person. Let's go with LitNEO. I think that's where I'm at, name-wise these days. It's Nicole though, in case you're curious. Nicole Elizabeth Ounjian Little. I'm an artist. I live in Toronto. I make art here. It's... expensive. I have two kids. They're expensive. My work lacks focus. It's very ADHD.
What is your project/creative passion, and how did you get started with it? I noticed a few on your portfolio… Shrink Film, Other People’s Deities.
This one is so hard. I've got to say, the things that came out of it [“other people’s deities” series] have a lot more depth than the rationale going into it. I filled out an application to do a show. It was accepted so I made the work. But why did I fill out the application the way I did? The general topic was the weather and plants. So I started looking up fertility gods. I ended up finding Anahit, who I think I might worship? She was betrayed, beheaded, and erased in the 4th century. That's quite a story, don't you think? Somebody ought to tell it.
It's funny but the shrink film is much more personal than the gods. Ah... life. I am interested in discarded objects. Rejected junk. And, like everyone on the planet, I have a full on love affair going with plastic. Think of it like a marriage. To Mother Earth. We are all a bunch of cheating bastards and Plastic is our hot mess of a mistress. She does things for us that the wife would never do. She's convenient. She's disposable. And what we're doing with her is devastating to the one we're supposed to love and cherish. In Other People's Deities, I made a cross out of metal bars and then I wrapped it in black garbage bags. My genius of a brother put it up in the gallery space so it looms down from the corner. It's my favourite collaboration with my favourite artist.
Shrink Film is plastic, so I love it. And I live in a crazy small space with other people, so it's a way of having a large body of work in a very small form. I also like that it's a product. Unfortunately, shrink film warps as it shrinks in the oven, so, like all my work, it's not as polished as a "real" product.
Plastic! That reminds me of another thing, you work with discarded media, which I especially would like to hear about. Having known a number of people who repurpose discard into mixed media, i feel like there is always something to talk about.
I think that’s a good observation. Yeah. I was pretty badly abused by an ex. He scared me and beat me up and ripped up my artwork. That was when I switched over to drawing on discarded, "worthless" objects. It was my way of fighting back against the idea that I didn't have value. There's more to it than that but that's the "something to talk about here" that you're noticing.
How does the sense of you interact with this art? like, what gets in your way and what benefits you?
Another good question. I am very ADHD. And ADHD isn't just about lack of focus. It's about a lack of regulation. I don't emotionally regulate because I don't know what I'm feeling before I react. I don't artistically regulate because I don't know what I'm going to draw before I draw it. I don't plan my work and I'm not drawing from a mental image. I actually don't make mental images very often. I need to be "in a state" to see what my imagination is up to.
I'm also something called "2E". I haven't found a way to talk about that yet but it drives and undermines all my work.
In a similar vein, what does your process look like?
In the short term, my process is very limited. It's more like following a direction then forming a plan. I put the goal in my head. "Draw the sky but make it green" or "make the composition upside down and then fill it in right side up." Something. And then I do that.
Long term, I have skills that need building, so I do plan a little more. I want to make my work tell better stories. I want it to be visually compelling. So, baby steps: I did a lot of writing in online classes. Now I produce a monthly zine so I can build up my ability to pair words and pictures. And I have formed a Critique group with my figure drawing group. I am trying to educate myself and let go of my ego telling me that what I do is good enough. It's not. But it will be. In retrospect. When I'm dead.
And how has your art morphed over the years? When you “”started””, aka started taking yourself seriously, what were you working with and what’s been formative in getting you to the here and now?
Classic story. I drew from imagination as a child, refusing to draw from life. I found my line. Then I started drawing from life exclusively. I put everything into becoming a technical artist. I draw things but I'm obsessed with people and draw them constantly. But now? Now I want to get back in touch with imaginative drawing. I want to be able to blend the two skill sets and start creating a world.
biggest inspirations This doesn’t need to be just visual art, can be anything.
Yeah. Robert Crumb. Dirtbag? Yes. Genius? Yes. I like Picasso a lot. And Milton. I love C.S. Lewis. I love Ursula K le Guin. I love E.M. Forster. I'm a fan of Dan Savage. I love Sergio Aragonés. The thing that's drawing me in right now is graphic novels. They're crazy good. I just finished Skim and I'm just... I would be jealous but I'm too in love with the work.
I'm also very invested in my art group and the artists who I see every week. We do 3 hours of drawing together and then a pass around. Everyone is so talented! I'm friends with a few artists outside the group and they are influential on my work too. Having peers is so important. I'm competitive. It pushes me forward. But I'm also egotistical and insecure. When I see someone do something amazing, it pushes me to go in a totally different direction. I hate losing so I change the game. That makes me experimental. And sometimes, the experiments work.
What are you reading/listening to right now?
This is the trickiest question of all. I have to fight the temptation to find a cool answer. The truth is, I'm not listening to anything right this minute. I should be listening to a YouTube video about ADHD. I really like the video. It's 2 hours+ and I'm still digesting the first 20 minutes. Also, I have ADHD so... it's hard to do anything that I'm supposed to be doing. I have to trick myself into doing important tasks. So I do task A by procrastinating task B (a more pressing task). It's a system. Trust me.
Any advice?
Yes. Read up about Narcissism and the dark triad. Or watch a YouTube video. Write down the red flags. Do not sacrifice yourself to fix someone. It will not work but you will still be sacrificed. You must be a friend to yourself.
Did you mean art advice? Ah. Well. Going to school for art is about learning to polish your presentation. It can be helpful in other ways too. It's worthwhile but I didn't do it. If you want to get good at art, do it a lot and seek out critique. If I'm ever able to afford it, I'll go for a Masters though. I'd like to see what all the fuss is about.
view her portfolio at littleneocreative.com, and find them online @littleneocreative.