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I would like to take this opportunity to introduce an emerging artist, Miki Hickel. I met Miki during my sophomore year in college (The Evergreen State College). We collaborated on various projects such as The Evergreen Queer Alliance Zines and feminist art installations. For the zine, she used the alias Charisma Lacking and maintained the advice column section.

Miki currently does various art projects ranging from painting, photography, and graphic design. The following interview is a glimpse of her style and what she considers to be good art.

When and how did you first become interested in painting/drawing? How long have you been painting/drawing?

My mother has always been interested in art.  She works primarily in oils, and when she wanted time to paint when I was a child, she’d set me up with my own paints and canvas and let me go for it.  I’ve been painting and drawing from the time she could trust me not to eat the paint or stab myself in the eye with the pencil.

What are your art influences?

In addition to my mother, I find myself drawn to individual pieces or styles rather than specific artists.  There are pieces that I can stare at for hours in all different genres of art that live in me like memories of old friends…for a lack of a better way of explaining it.  I have Picasso’s Guernica hanging up in my house and even though the subject matter is depressing, the visual is strong and beautiful and courageous that I can see past it to the artistic effort and ideas that I admire. Every time I go to the Seattle Art Museum I have to stop in and see Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast by Albert Bierstadt because the light in it is so ethereal and the thought that the inspiration for it was based on description only floors me. There are just certain works that have stuck with me like my own memories and I think of them fondly…they evoke emotion for me.

I can find that kind of connection from art of all mediums.  Da Vinci’s Lady with and Ermine, The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck live in my head right along with the first Spiderman Loves Mary Jane comic.and Ross Campbell’s art (He does Water Baby and Wet Moon). I love it all and that love is what drives me to make my own shapes and colors make sense to other people.  I want other people to feel what I do.

About Albert Bierstadt’s artwork, what kind of emotions do they evoke?

I always feel a stillness when I look at it. I’ve realized that I was standing there holding my breath, waiting for the clouds to move or the waves to crash against the rocks before. I’m in awe of it no matter how many times I see it.

Does anyone in your family do art?

I’ve already mentioned my mother, but her father is also an artist…he also works in oils.  In fact, they once took a painting class together before I was born.  He doesn’t paint as much as he used to, but he had his own style and I liked being about to see how he saw the world.

What’s your parent’s style like?

My mother has done a few portraits, but is mainly a still life and landscape artist. My grandfather is also a landscape painter.

What else do you do besides paint?

I draw.  I draw a lot, but in creative spurts.  I won’t draw anything for a month or more, but for some reason I’ll have the urge one day and crank out pages and pages of drawings.  I also like taking pictures and I do a little graphic design.  I’m working at getting better at the more technical aspects of design, but that’s only so I can have more opportunities to be artsy.

I understand the drawing in creative spurts. I’m the way with writing short stories.

How long did it take you to develop and design your website? What kind of program(s) did you use?

My website is always changing.  I’ve had a site of my own since I was 14 years old…so for about 13 years now.  It went from an animated gif extravaganza, to a portfolio site for my art. I prefer to write code by hand, but I’ll use Front Page to check it some times. It’s mostly basic HTML with some CSS thrown in where I need it.  I want my pages to just work when I need it to so I try to stay away from to many fancy bells and whistles.

Why did you decide to draw this picture?

This picture was actually just an exercise I did in hand drawing.  Hands are something I think are really important to get right. Everyone knows what hands look like so I practice.  The inspiration for the picture was from a photo I took of one of my best friend’s at a wedding.  She was holding her boyfriend’s arm and the tension in her hand had so much emotion in it to me. I couldn’t tell if she was pushing it away or pulling it closer and something about that uncertainty called me to try to capture it.  Ignore, the red spot on the hand though.  I had this hanging in the kitchen of one of the dorms I lived in during college and it somehow ended up with spaghetti sauce on it.

Was I there for the spaghetti incident? The reason why I asked about this picture is because I remember it hanging in our apartment.

I think you lived in the place I’m talking about, but I don’t think you were there at the time. You were lucky.  It was not a pretty food fight. I have another drawing with some sort of juice spilled on it too, but I still hang on to them because I think sometimes you just get something right and you shouldn’t throw it out because something happens to it.

What do you think that drawing is about?

My friend might not be very happy to hear this, but it’s partly about how I think she was approaching that relationship.  Pulling him closer and shoving him away at the same time. In some way it’s also probably what I used to do in my own relationships…that’s probably why I was so drawn to it in the first place.

What does it take to draw something like this?

I think it takes a little practice and the ability not to worry if you don’t get things absolutely perfect. That’s probably the hardest part for me. I will work and rework something until it’s unrecognizable because it’s not a perfect recreation until I remind myself that I don’t need to be a copy machine.

In making varieties of art, do you believe that “being relaxed” could benefit someone? Remember our instructor in our senior college class “Drawing a Life”and how she use to pick on how rigid I was with drawing?

I think there are kinds of and styles of art that require relaxation. Pottery, glass making, watercolor…I imagine all of these art forms would be easier to do when relaxed.  My art and style doesn’t require that much relaxation.  It does require a certain lack of focus.  If I just sat and painting without distraction, I would over work pieces until I was so unhappy I’d start over.  I tend to watch TV or movies while I paint. It makes me come away from whatever I’m working on just enough that I can maintain my original vision of what I was working on.  I’m sure other people can’t work that way, but it works for me.  I might be relaxed, I might be amused.  Artist have to do what works for them.

What is special about this drawing?

It reminds me of a few different times in my life.  It reminds me of the history with that friend.  It reminds me of the time when I took the picture and the time when I drew it. I’m not sure if it would be special to other people, but I try not to think about that when I draw.

 What makes “good” art to you?

Representations of how light changes something visually speak to me. I think you can express so much through light and shadow that I’m truly envious of people who seem to have mastered it. I prefer art that makes you feel rather than think.  I think it’s more honest.

What kind of mediums do you prefer to use and why?

I mainly use pencil, ink and acrylic.  Pencil and ink have always been readily available to me so I’m comfortable with them.  Acrylic became a preferred medium because I just don’t have the patience, space, and lack of sense of smell to use oils like I used to. I like that I can work on one part of a painting and it only takes a minute or so to work on it again without turning the paint into mud. I like that when I have to step away from something I’m working on, I don’t have to worry about my dog knocking it over and ruining the floor.

Where have you had your art displayed?

My parents have the biggest collection of my art outside of the townhouse that I share with my boyfriend.  He’s pretty understanding about how much of my art I have hanging around here.  I’ve had showings at Caffe Vita in Olympia, WA and about ten of my paintings have been living in a tattoo shop in Olympia since October of 2008.

Any future plans for showings?The paintings handing in Altered States will remain there through Olympia Artswalk on April 24^th and 25^th.  I’m hoping to add a few more to that collection for people to check out and hopefully fall in love with.

Where do you see yourself in the future with your art?

I’m at a pretty uncertain point with my art. I’ll be leaving Washington for a few years soon.  Either my art will continue and blossom and I’ll get to share more of it with more people or it will have to be put on hold for a while.  I hope to continue growing as an artist and showing my work where ever .

More of Miki’s artwork can be viewed at www.mikihickel.com

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