We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicolas Nadja a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicolas, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

In the beginning of my artistic journey, like many struggling artists it starts with the trying to survive art school. When deciding to go to an art school I knew my funds would be limited or almost depleted completely, compared to going to a state school or community college.
The test of real life came when you get hungry and all your money went to art supplies, paper and canvas. Every moment is for creating, so working a 9-5 or even part time was hardly an option when there is so much to create. My first experience with hunger came, and had no resources financially, it was this hunger that drove me to get all my paintings together that could fit in a portfolio case and went to the streets. I found an art fair on a block that was going on , and knowing I could not afford a cent to fair to enter, I asked a local storefront owner if I may display a few paintings in their window for the afternoon.
By my large surprise they agreed, and within an hour sold one of my oil paintings for a couple hundred dollars, and I realized then. I realized people value the work and loved it enough to buy it. This was the beginning of the wheel spinning and the pathway was clear afterwards, what feeds my soul is what can feed my body as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As an artist starting from Chicago, with my background being Italian I have always been fascinated by the antiquity and the renaissance era, that surrounded my home growing up and the city of Chicago fueling the urban influences in my early days.
I started into oil painting with classical training from a fantastic Chicago realist, Ryan Shultz. The individual training set me on a course to make my my business on commissioned oil paintings.
Commissioned work is a love hate relationship I have but it is instrumental since the beginning of artists careers. Where I try to find a unique synthesis between art and business is to find clients that want to encourage my individual vision vrs their own.
Working on murals has also opened up my business to expand my vision and be allowed artistic liberty and retaining a paycheck to pay the bills. It has never stayed as one particular thing that does it though. Living life as an artist has set- backs and it has big advantages.
One thing that I believe my viewers understand is that the work has strong transcendental quality that can surpass the typical flat bounds of a canvas and reach into the mind.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my view the world needs a renewal to structure society with aesthetics as a most important key. In places that emphasize the beauty of the universe and place focus and time into everything that is done, it is shown to largely impact the life of humans being in those places.
Increasing public art in city landscapes, offering to bring the museum quality work into the streets, and merging life and art.
Society can also make some efforts to recognize unique beauty and the value of human hand- made goods. This day and age is largely based in mass- production and the inevitable death of craftsmanship. Support the artist creating with their hands in place of the store that is stealing the works of artists to mass produced on cheap and toxic materials for the masses to hang the same printout on thousands of living rooms around the world.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The main goal has always been to go further into the experience.
My creative journey will never stop flowing and it will always mirror my experience in life. It is a story that will never be finished being wrote. My goal has always been to bring a higher quality of thinking and beauty to the world, and inspire the light through anyones darkness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nadjastudios.com
• Instagram: @n.nadja

Image Credits

Nicolas Nadja