Nina Theda Black is an artist in the truest sense of the word. She draws inspiration from beauty itself. Her pieces have garnered the attention of mere mortals lucky enough to bestow their eyes on such genius. Nowadays in the world of Photoshop and filters, her art is especially unique. She creates wonderful collages by hand, adding texture and dept to each individual piece. During the course of our interview, I not only learned about the enigmatic Nina Theda Black, I also picked up some other tidbits from her. For example, I had never heard about Theda Bara until my interview with Nina, upon doing some research, I am intrigued. Nina also mentions, American writer Kurt Vonnegut, someone else I have been meaning to look into. I must say, Ms Nina Theda Black did not disappoint, she is informative as she is artistic. Here is my interview with the lovely Nina Theda Black, enjoy.
KL: You have a very lovely and unique name, may I ask it's origin? Nina Theda Black, it's quite fetching, I'm intrigued of it's whereabouts.
NTB: Oh, thanks. It’s a pseudonym I gave myself when I started making art, so I could remain active online, while maintaining some semblance of anonymity. I had had a few sort of uncomfortable situations online and realized I didn’t like the idea of people having all my personal information thru my real name, so I changed it. I got Theda from Theda Bara and I just liked the way it looked and sounded.
KL: Your art is very alluring, beautiful, mysterious and dark. It seems to have a theme. Why do you gravitate to that style per se as opposed to brighter colors?
NTB: I really don’t know why or even if I do gravitate one way or another. I just start to make something and it’s usually equal parts me directing and the piece directing which way it’s gonna go.
I start with a focal image I like and work from there. I try not to think too hard about it, so if it goes to a dark place from there, I just let it.
I’m mostly after beauty.
I do kinda tend toward muted or warmer colors. I like deep colors, but have never been drawn to bright or pastel colors. Just not my thing.
KL: Some of your art depicts not only famous people, but in particular, famous people that have faced extraordinary circumstances in their life, such as, River Phoenix, Patty Hearst and Rasputin. Why are you drawn to such individuals?
NTB: My focal image just has to be pretty.
I don’t give a whole lot of thought to who the subject is or what they’ve been thru in life. If I like an image and i’m drawn to it, I use it. Just so happens that a lot of really beautiful people have faced extraordinary circumstance in their lives.
Rasputin
KL: You have a very big fan base, people from all walks of life appreciate your work. One of those fans being brilliant director, screenwriter, producer Scott Derrickson. His works include, Hellraiser, Doctor Strange and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, just to name a few. He's a fan of yours, how did that come about? Has his interest in your art help catapult your artistic career any further? You have credited the founder of the band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Anton Alfred Newcombe with exposing your art to a broader audience. How does it feel to be acknowledged by other fellow artists?
NTB: Yeah, Scott Derrickson is a really beautiful person and he’s been a good friend to me. We met on Twitter - had a couple mutual friends in common. Scott actually is the first person to buy an original collage of mine, a Joan of Arc.
before that I only ever sold prints.
I guess I was too attached to my little creations and just wasn’t ready to let the originals go. Scott knew this and never pressured me, just said he’d love it if I were ever to reconsider.
I knew then that he loved it as much as I did and the thought of letting him have it didn’t bother me at all.
I couldn’t have been happier to hand it over to him. By the way he also insisted on paying me more than I’d asked him for it, which tells you about the kind of person he is. Unfortunately, Scott’s family home burned down a couple years ago with the Joan of Arc piece inside. Thankfully, no one was hurt. And I actually felt like it was a kinda poetic ending, that Joan of Arc had once again been destroyed by fire.
This is the original artwork of Nina's Joan of Arc.
KL: On Instagram not only do you post thought provoking art, but you also post thought provoking words. On more than one occasion you have written things that have truly resonated with me, for example, under one of your posts you wrote, "Make art, grow your soul" and most recently you wrote, "There's a raging pandemic out there, make art." Can you please elaborate on that, as to why it is crucial for the soul to create during these times we are currently living in?
NTB: These are rough times for everyone, and I have found that I can switch off and to a different, better, frequency of my brain by making art.
Kurt Vonnegut said, ‘practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow...’
Those are words I believe in wholeheartedly and words I live by.