The Blue & Gold interviewed Nina H., an IB senior with a passion for art. Where does she find inspiration for some of her crazy projects?
 

What’s the inspiration behind your artwork?
I’m mainly inspired by history and the culture of different countries because I feel like that’s a big part of our identity. I’m constantly inspired by stories, myths or legends.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I’d describe myself as kind of crazy, or eccentric. I do weird things, and all my friends think I’m crazy because I have these big pieces and huge ideas in my mind.
Can you tell me about one of your craziest projects?
One time I asked my friend to pose on the ground and do weird things, and another time I had people dance in a park, and people kept giving us weird looks. Another time I was doing a shoot for hunger day, and I was trying to portray a person who was in need of water, so I did my own makeup, got some costumes from backstage, and I went into the lower school sandpit to get a desert feeling.
How did you first become interested in art?
I’ve been interested in art since I was like one. My dad would draw doodles for me and make me little house models out of paper. After that he taught me how to draw butterflies and stuff with different markers and I just started from there.
How did you move from drawing to photography?
I like drawing a lot, and I like fashion design, but I’ve always felt like I’m never good enough at drawing. So I started doing makeup because my cousin used to be a professional makeup artist, and she introduced me to it. I got hooked, and I’m addicted to makeup now since it’s so fun.
Can you tell me about your piece titled “And There Interposed a Fly”?
That one was inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a fly buzz when I died”. I love that poem, it’s so depressing, but written so beautifully. It’s about the process of dying, the fly is a metaphor of the process of death or the afterlife. In the poem, the narrator is ready to die and then suddenly the line says “and there interposed a fly”. It’s like how the fly is blocking her from reaching what she thought was the ideal afterlife.
Can you tell me about your dress titled “Conquering Insolence”?
The dress is actually about procrastination. I started the top of the dress last summer, and then I stopped and just left it at my house. But I was applying for IASAS Cultural Convention, and I wanted to have something that’s really different, so I decided to start it up again. I was ready to give up because it was so time consuming, I needed so many layers of wood, and not only that, I was doing Les Mis, the dance production, and college applications, and just IB diploma stuff. I really wanted to give up, but I had wanted IASAS art for so long, so I stayed up until 2 AM until I finally finished it. So the piece is about getting over the feeling of giving up and pushing forward.
Where do you see art in your life in the future?
To me, I would love for art to be a profession, but I can actually see art in a lot of things that I do. I feel like English is a form of art, nature and the natural sciences also has art, so I see art in a lot of things. I feel like I can get inspiration everywhere, and art will just go with me wherever I go.