Artist Profile: Lorena Nicol

Name and Year: Lorena Nicol, 2013
Hometown: New York, New York
Major: Psychology
Tumblr: http://www.la-musemalade.tumblr.com/
Interested in commissioning work? Email: musemaladeshop@gmail.com

Street: You do so many things — can you describe the breadth of your creative work? How did you get started?
Lorena Nicol: I got started by crafting Mother’s Day presents when I was around eight and wanted to surprise her. I’m ravenously curious and easily distracted (so I’ve done digital stuff, some drawing, fashion design and other hands–on/DIY projects). Some things, like gifts, seem more intuitive to make than to try and find. I end up with a little skill in this and that by figuring out how to make them. Currently my main project is a handmade clothing Etsy that I’m reviving. I also take occasional requests for commissioned pieces.

Street: What inspires your style and personal designs?
LN: Baudelaire’s poem “La Muse malade” sings the central themes of my aesthetic. It’s a story of elegant macabre with a mind to the absurd — a sultry dark circus where the grotesque is also breathtaking. It’s the inspiration behind my Tumblr, a combination mood board and platform to show my original projects.

Street: Do you design mainly for yourself, or are you hoping to reach a wider audience?
LN: Most of my designs are intended for other people — it’s bliss seeing what I create make someone else happy. Plus I love the thought of my ideas walking around on the streets, seeing the world. Anyone who wears my stuff has to be somewhat daring, as if what I craft is a part of the moments they have in the garments. If I have my way, they’re worn as statement pieces by people expecting to make some noise.

Street: In all your experience as an artist, what are you most proud of?
LN: I’m most proud when I finally wrestle my neurotic and perfectionist tendencies into a final product — it can take me a while to finish things.

Street: Could you describe what would be your ideal outfit?
LN: My favorite outfits are actually costumes. The ideal ones fulfill whatever character I wake up with in my head that day (i.e.: 70s psychiatrist, Buffy the Vampire Slayer extra). The true ideal would be an outfit as fly as my grandma, Ramona — she’s one of my biggest style inspirations. From her I got a taste for flamboyance.

Street: How do you think style and fashion impact daily life and interactions?
LN: Seeing someone oozing style can make my day. It’s a treat because I’m a visual glutton.

Street: What role do you think your creative work will play in your future life?
LN: My plans don’t include formal training in design, but I hope the ideas stay plentiful and insistent. Being constantly involved in a creative project will always be essential to me despite the intention to pursue clinical psychology. Berlin might feature in the nearer future — I’m sure that will spark entire new directions of constructive distraction.