Nicole Labad
How did your journey in art begin at the age of twelve, and how has your style evolved since then?
My journey began with reading loads of graphic novels; one of my first and favorite authors being Hiro Mashima. I would draw Mashima’s work and stare in front of a screen trying to copy his characters, eventually creating original characters to make my own comics. I was heavily interested in the Japanese animated style at that age, but as I grew older and started to explore art, my style started to evolve. I would try all sorts of styles and eventually landed on my own style bordering on semi-realism. Now, I focus on human emotions as the source of my inspiration. Drawing from feelings of sadness, melancholy, and hope.
You mention that your pieces represent healing and time. Could you explain how you incorporate these themes into your art?
In this collection of pieces they all have an element of nature. With it, it’s natural to grow, whether it’s a plant or a person. Over time, some wounds would heal– which is why I use the element of nature to highlight the scars of these wounds. Within pain and hurt, there’s always hope and evolution beyond it. Over time, self-evolution outgrows the pain and in turn can create a new sense of beauty.
Can you talk about the specific symbols or imagery you use to represent pain, growth, and healing in your work?
As I mentioned previously, nature is a huge part of this collection. The flowers and greenery represent beauty within the healing of pain. Especially with the piece of the statue: “Healing From Your Touch” which represents the healing from abuse. That although the past has been weary and dreadful, there is always hope and the chance to grow and heal after the fact. It’s the fact that we as humans don’t choose what we go through, but what happens afterwards determines our fate. To make those scars beautiful, rather than making them another source of pain is the goal of my work.
What role does nature play in your artwork, particularly in relation to healing from humanity’s destruction?
In the piece: “The Engulfed City”, climate change has affected our world so deeply that the polar ice caps are melting and multiple species of animals are on the brink of extinction; so I thought to myself, what if humanity disappeared altogether one day. The world would keep spinning and nature would slowly creep up to take back its world. It’s cynical, yes, but the reality is the world wouldn’t stop spinning without humans and in fact the atmosphere might be better without. The piece is a call to humanity to take back the beauty of the world, rather than harming it. To embrace eco-friendly options of energy and to save the world, one step at a time.
Aside from art, you have other creative passions such as writing fiction and playing music. How do these other forms of expression influence your artwork?
All of my pieces tend to have a story, and it stems from reading and listening to music all of my life. These influence my work because no song is without a story, and no writing is without a background, hence the basis of my art. My art is never without a message or a story behind it.
How does your personal experience with pain and healing influence the way you create?
I’ve had times where I felt so hopeless that I couldn’t go on, or had emotions that clouded my judgement and affected my decisions. Hence why I turned to art to channel it. Rather than taking it out on the world around me, my art supported me and became a place where I could lay all my feelings out on a piece of paper or canvas. Eventually, I realized that many of the emotions I felt, others were feeling too, and that became the foundation of my art. To give a sense of hope in a world of hopelessness.
As an artist based in B.C., Canada, how does your environment influence your work?
Being in B.C., nature has always been a part of my life, oftentimes I take the views around me for granted until I see other places which are not fortunate enough to have the towering pine trees or the flowing rivers. Hence why it’s captured in my art and has always been a huge basis for it. Whenever I feel lost, nature can always ground me and the fresh air could always clear my thoughts. It’s why it’s my inspiration for art.
Zola S.
Mysterious, with a lot of emotions going on. Loving it.