We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Nobles recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew from a very early age that my interests fell more on the creative spectrum. I grew up constantly scribbling on surfaces, or constructing things with Legos or Play-Doh. I also spent the majority of my youth involved in community theatre, flexing my creative muscles while also working in a collaborative environment. I don’t think I had fully committed to the idea of becoming a creative professional though until I hit high school, and had to try on different versions of the future in my mind. I just couldn’t envision myself working in the fields I had grown up watching the adults in my life working in (my parents both worked in service of one kind or another my whole life whether it was retail, food service, or even IT). I was very fortunate to have been raised in a way where my parents clocked that early and were very supportive of that. Once I did my undergraduate studies my parents where thrilled I was getting a degree, and weren’t concerned that I was working in the arts. And from there they were incredibly supportive and proud of my moves to get my MFA and embark on a career as a professional artist and educator.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a visual artist working across a variety of media, but with a primary focus on two-dimensional works. I got my BA in Art History and Studio Art with an emphasis in Printmaking from Hamline University in 2015, and my MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018. Since getting my degrees I have taken work as an artist assistant and adjunct instructor. I have also been very fortunate to have residencies at the Penland School of Craft, Nebraska Innovation Studios, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and the Morgan Conservatory. I have a background in many of the arts in addition to visual, particularly in theatre and dance. This commitment to artistic expression of all kinds has influenced me in innumerable ways and continues to provide inspiration and enrichment in my life and work.

My work is engaged with the human experience, and the ways that identity and our sense of self shift over time. There’s a beautiful innocence in childhood where, although the world is large and new, it feels as though your place in it and the roles that you play are stable and unchanging. In our youth, outside of extraordinary circumstances, we are unburdened by the awareness that everything and everyone is subject to radical change—including our own sense of self. As we grow older though, looking back it becomes clear that this was never the case. In a matter of years, you can change so dramatically that you did not even notice as you became an entirely new person. For me, this realization was incredibly destabilizing. I began to feel that I no longer knew who I was, and longed for the security of the identity I had previously known. This moment of discovery and the ensuing self-reflection is the driving force behind my work. I set out to find the relationship between my past and present selves, and to acquaint myself with the person I had become. The revelation that I had changed so drastically from my prior self left me feeling fragmented and no longer comfortable in my identity. I was rootless, felt alone, and longed for the comfort of nostalgia. My prints and drawings pull from images and memories of my childhood, and juxtapose them with images of myself in my present state. They present the struggle of integrating identities that are at odds with one another, the discomfort of confronting change from the past, and the uncertainty of the future.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I am a big proponent of arts education. I think that bringing the arts into the classroom is the first place that people get a chance to spend time focusing on creative output in a way that pushes them forward and opens them up to new ways of working and thinking, while also creating an environment that emphasizes the validity of creativity in our day to day lives. I was very fortunate to go to school in a place that had funded its arts well, and that made a huge difference in my path as an artist. If I hadn’t been afforded the opportunity to have part of my education dedicated to studying the arts there is so much I wouldn’t have even been aware of as an option, whether that’s as a career or what kinds of things are possible to make. This is also the place where I encountered the people who offered me the largest support as I pursued a creative career. They are living examples of people who chose to center the arts in their lives and as a kid trying to picture a life in the arts that is deeply important to see.

As a working professional, I also think as a society we can prioritize a thriving creative ecosystem by working to financially support artists and other creatives. One of the biggest challenges that we face in this career path is how to make a living while still working creatively. The only real way to do it right now is through a near endless hustle, and I have watched so many incredible artists have to step back from their practice simply because they either can’t afford to live off of what little money they can pull in, or because they are so deeply burnt out from the constant grind. We need to start paying creatives for their works and offer more opportunities that don’t rely on the artist paying entry fees.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being in a creative profession is absolutely being surrounded by other creatives. These are the people who inspire me to work in different ways, explore new ideas, and just generally allow me to steep myself in a wide variety of perspectives. The arts community is where I have found my closest friends and mentors whether that is in the visual arts, music, theatre, or dance. These people are what keep me vital.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kylenobles.com
• Instagram: @kylenoblesart