Artist spotlight : Naz (Nazcore)
ARTIST STATEMENT:
“ Dark surrealism intertwined with animalistic instinct and haunted beauty. Inspired by heavy music and pure darkness, my work explores raw emotion through oil painting, acrylics, and digital techniques. Witness the bittersweet harmony within the darkness.”
Social Networks :
Instagram Handle: @nazcore_art
Website & Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/nazcore
Naz (Nazcore)
1. Inspiration & Style
What initially inspired you to become an artist, and how did you develop your unique artistic style?
Answer: I have been drawing from a young age, and with my special interest in the dark fantasy world, I have developed my current style. Many different things such as videogames and music have inspired me to create my works.
2. Creative Process
Do you have any rituals or routines that help you get into a creative mindset when starting a new project?
Answer: I usually let it flow, sometimes an idea pops randomly in my head, sometimes a song lyric or seeing some kind of artistic work such as a movie or seeing more things from another artist I like inspires me deeply. It could be a story I read, an event on the street and even dreams … there are many things. And once I have a main idea, it’s just sketching and seeing what my brain comes up with and everything harmonizes as my hand holding a pencil gets to work.
3. Artistic Influences
How do you balance historical or artistic influences with your personal style, and how do these influences manifest in your work today?
Answer: I try to merge the things that interest me the most, a mix of all things I like. A little bit of modern and some classical. I like mixing horror with a dash of cuteness, dark art with pop surrealism that has a renaissance breeze.
4. Emotion & Expression
How do you use your art to evoke emotions, and what role does emotion play in your creative process?
Answer: For me, fear is one of the strongest emotions. And one that requires strength to be face to face with. Thus I use fear evoking imagery plentifully. And I also show some representations of deep sadness, victory, grandoise…
I like to show some humanity in the creatures that I paint, that they also feel these emotions deeply despite not looking the part. And my own personal emotions effect my brush strokes, the deeper I feel the more striking my lines will be.
5. Standout Projects
Can you share a project that stands out to you and describe the creative process behind it?
Answer: A drawing of mine, ‘’Satan’s Surrogate’’ where a girl is stuck with a demonic goat baby. It is open to interpretation, but I wanted to show the thoughtful and sad eyes of the girl thinking what she got herself into. The creative process was straightforward, playing with the themes I enjoy pairing the most. A pretty face and a grotesque creature interacting. For the pose I took a photo of myself in order to mimic the pose that I like, and then using my own photo as reference I draw that.
6. Feedback & Growth
How do you incorporate feedback from critics or audiences into your work, and how do you balance this with your own artistic intuition?
Answer: For me, feedback is very important. I am always hungry to learn more technically when it comes to art. I admire those who have a lot of knowledge and I am always open to hearing what they have to say so that it opens up a path for me to grow even more. Audiences usually have a shock effect because of the themes I use, I invite them to see deeper and not be fooled by the ugly faces of the creatures, they are also sentient with fragile hearts.
7. Motivation & Inspiration
How do you stay motivated and inspired, even when facing creative blocks or challenges?
Answer: Whenever I finish a piece of work, I always take a break to focus on my other hobbies and take a breather. It is important to not force creativity. Whenever I have an idea for a new project, then it is time to continue creating. This creates a very nice in between balance.
8. Exhibiting Work
How do you feel about exhibiting your artwork with The Holy Art Gallery, and what does this opportunity mean to you?
Answer: This has been a very spontaneous process, and I am very excited to take part in it and showcase my style here. I am thrilled to have been chosen for this exhibition and I can’t wait to be there physically and see people interacting with my painting.
9. Future Goals
What are your long-term goals and aspirations as an artist, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Answer: I am going to be creating a lot more paintings in the same style, this will take many months, blood, sweat and tears. I love the process of it. For the moment this is the current goal that I am focusing on, to keep creating and growing my collection. When it comes to the long term goals, I would like to approach things realistically. It would be amazing to have a solo exhibition some day, but I am taking things slow, step by step. Because I do know that what’s important is enjoying the process and the journey, the results follow, scaling the hard work.
10. Audience Connection
What do you hope viewers take away from experiencing your art, and how do you aim to connect with them on an emotional or intellectual level?
Answer: I would like the audience to take a step back, pause and observe. How does my painting make them feel ? Do they feel fear ? Are they intrigued, grossed out ? Then I want them to process those extreme emotions. Could it be so that, by feeling these emotions that are far from standardized and cliché, they are feeling in another level. Like the thorns of a rose,beautiful yet painful.
