We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Niz G. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Niz below.

Niz, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Most of the projects I sign on for are very intentional and meaningful. There are definitely ones that stand out-ones where I was able to take a journey through the process and where I had the creative freedom and support to carry an important story out publicly. Projects like these are my most recent mural for The Autonomous Center for Robotics exploring a solar punk inspired future where humans, AI and nature are in harmony or my Lamar underpass mural in downtown Austin which brings the Mother archetype into a high traffic space as a symbol of hope and heart coherence to promote mental health wellness during the pandemic. I’ve done many projects like these which hold deep meaning and transformative messages for the collective.
I believe the most meaningful project that I have initiated on my own accord is the Mayan street art series I have been working on for the past few years. This street art series was self initiated and self funded and required establishing a relationship with a Mayan dancer/warrior community to carry out a series of portraits throughout The Yucatan península with the purpose of representation and educating the public about the existence of their culture.
The relationships evolved who I am as a person and what I know about the culture. It also shifted my goals as a public artist, giving birth to a desire for worldwide representation of local indigenous cultures and traditions in public art across the board.

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

I got into public art/aerosol art through skateboarding and hip hop culture. Both of those things brought me into the world of graffiti and street art. I was always the only girl and the only one painting stencils so off the bat I was different-I’ve often been vilified and praised for both of these things lol Nowadays, I create large scale murals and custom portraiture. I also do live painting for festivals and events.
One of the benefits of my craft for live painting is that I can create a detailed piece from start to finish within hours.
I think one of the most important things to know for potential clients is that I like to work with people who are intentional and who are looking to create something custom and unique.
I prefer clients who are familiar with my style and content and who are hiring me because of those things as opposed to clients who just want ”edgy graffiti” or “something instagrammable” or a basic logo or cliche saying.
I am the artist you hire when you have a larger than life concept and you need to translate that into a beautiful, intentional work of art that is going to have a meaningful impact. I’m the artist you hire when you want to make a space dynamic or nostalgic.
Creatively, I enjoy exploring the deeper meaning of things and I like visual problem solving. I also enjoy finding magic in the mundane and creating portraits that bring out the divine in people.
At its core I want my work to be accessible and I want it to be real. My overall purpose is to elevate consciousness through art-however that may manifest for the client or for moment.

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

I think one of the most obvious things society can do as a whole to support the existence of real art-art that accesses deeper undercurrents of what’s happening in society or in nature, is to make sure that working artists are supported-weather this is in the form or stipends, sponsorships, patrons, buying work, promoting their work or hiring them. If artist’s basic expenses are covered, they are able to channel their creativity into more meaningful work, spend more time on paintings and buy more high quality supplies. The caliber of creative expression goes up by default.
As it stands, many artists are pressured into creating meaningless work in the corporate and consumer worlds, because that’s what pays the bills. That or creating public art where the content is generally bland in an effort to make it palatable for everyone. While all of this works for some artists, it also brings the caliber of true art down, and drives the prices of art up as artists do their best to thrive.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think it must be hard to understand creatives period if your not a creative lol The basic stuff doesn’t fulfill us-we see more, want more and make more. We are constantly imagining possibilities and organizing visions into tangible messages and symbols. Without this creative pulse, everything becomes boring, mechanical-basic.
I think something people who aren’t creative low key don’t realize is that they need artists. That we play a key role in making sense of the madness and in making all of the ugly things about ourselves and each other pretty enough to look at        

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Nizgraphics.com
• Instagram: Elenizzle
• Facebook: Eleanor Niz
• Twitter: Elenizzle