How long have you been painting?

Do you have a formal art education?

Take us through the steps of your painting process, you start by pouring paint and letting it run?

How do you create the texture?

Some of your paintings are more abstract while others are more figurative. Do you move back and forth between the styles or is that a progression?

What inspires you the most?

What defines the art of Andrew Nigon?

Chaos. Incompletion. Temper Tantrums. Christianity. Drag Queens. Circus Side Shows. The Color Pink.

Please share some of your artistic journey with us

While in undergraduate school I began working with clay. I liked the ability to directly affect a material with my hands and not be dependent on tools to manipulate form. I also began molding doll parts that I would assemble to quickly create human figures that would be deconstructed and reassembled. It was in grad school when someone suggested that, if I was interested in working with the human form, I should consider increasing my scale to life-size. Clay no longer seemed practical at this scale so I switched to expandable foam and plastic, but the process never changed. Since then I have continued an exploration of new materials or at least used familiar materials in new ways.

Experimentation is a way to keep myself on my toes. Once I understand a material I’m able to control it and control is something I aggressively avoid. In the studio, I maintain a process that is purposefully uncomfortable in order to set myself up for mistakes. The trick is to always be a novice with whatever material I am using.

What themes do you explore in your art?

I am trying to come to terms with chaos and unpredictability by finding an aesthetic that celebrates the volatility of the human experience. The further along I go the more I am convinced that God lives within madness instead of being an outside observer. Much of the work has a fractured look to it even in its completed state. This creates a visual situation where it is hard to tell if the piece is unfinished or just falling apart.

You are interested in gender, anthropology and religion. Can you elaborate on what fascinates you about those subjects?

To be more specific, I am interested in exploring various techniques to anthropomorphize the potential necessity for a religious experience. Without specifying any particular faith, I glean specific techniques used in ceremony and iconography that has the power to project divine sensations. More recently my work is focusing, in small part, on the mysterious power of Drag.

You have used casts of your own limbs for sculptures. Does this practice give you a closer connection with your work? Do you feel part of the final piece in a different way when you use yourself as a model?

I feel closeness to all my work and I don’t play favorites with the ones that look like me. What is weird is other people’s reaction to those particular pieces. A lot of people see them as self-portraits, which they are not. I think of them more as me’s in Halloween Costumes. Yes we look alike, but they are pretending to be someone/something else and there is a separation in that.

What is your balloon series “Knew Normal” about?

It’s the morning after. It’s about hangover and the heaviness of awkward regret. “Knew Normal” is an ongoing series that I have been exploring for a few years now. I started out filling balloons with expandable foam and tying them off. For the first day the foam expands, growing the balloon, but then, right before the foam sets, it shrinks slightly. This makes the latex wrinkle a little and the balloons start to look like old skin. There is a sadness to them when they hang in large groups but they are beautiful and peaceful as well. All good things come to an end, but the good news is that all bad things come to an end as well. Normal only exists in the past.

What else are you currently working on?

An eighteen-foot tall giraffe that is a companion piece to a life-sized elephant I made in 2010.

Rebeca Raney’s world is filled with fantasy. The New York based artist creates characters inspired by her imagination as well as flora and fauna. She brings them to life via delicate, whimsical drawings and larger than life resin sculptures. Following the success of her Art Basel Miami Beach solo show last December and a collaboration with clothing line Madewell in 2012 Raney talks about her art, new plans for 2013 and her secret to happiness.

Share some of your journey as an artist

I have always made art and done so very happily. It was natural for me to attend consecutive art schools after high school. I first went to RISD for my BFA and then to SVA for my MFA. I take jewelry classes at FIT. Education plays significantly in my journey as an artist.

How would you describe your aesthetic sensibilities?

I appreciate craftsmanship. My drawings can be quick or detailed...I just make certain that the paper is of the highest quality. I have a deep enjoyment of using the best materials. Colorful things make me happy but so does quirky imagery.

The need to work expediently inspires my delicate drawings. I strive for an economy of line when it comes to drawing the figure. I also can get very lost in my drawing and that gives me a meditative satisfaction.

Do you make up stories for the characters you create?

I absolutely make up stories for the characters that I draw. Sometimes they are not explicit or overt but I think about them a lot and consider them to be sentient beings who are thoughtful in their own right. Many contemporary overtly CUTE works are all about the surface. They seem not to have a brain. I like Hello Kitty very much but I don't think she is really thinking a lot or working on her difficult relationship with My Melody.

Which characters do you turn into sculptures?

I choose to make sculptures from the drawings that most interest me. If I am curious about what the back of something might be like or how gravity will impact a piece I will consider making it in three dimensions.

The faces of the sculptures are often covered in intricate embroidery. What appeals to you about the embroidery?

Embroidery is an excellent way to express the emotional quality of the character. It is a very pretty rash that spreads over the sculpture's face. Sometimes, people are into the embroidery exclusively and don't need the clunk and fuss of the character. But the character needs the embroidery.

You create a world of happiness with your art. What is your secret to happiness?

Happiness has a great deal to do with doing precisely what you want. I am a person without faith and religion and so I concentrate on my time in this life on doing exactly what I want. Figuring this out is not always a happy experience. Once I hit on art making and making the kind of drawings and sculptures that I wanted to it was easy to allow my characters to wallow in and evoke pure joy. Happiness is designing your own life.

What are some of the latest projects you have been working on?

I'm collaborating on a line of jewelry with La Selva, an incredible clothing line that uses indigenous Mayan textiles to create gorgeous women's ready-to-wear.

You had a solo show during Art Basel Miami Beach in December. How has that impacted your career?

That show was emblematic of many. many months of the hardest work I have ever done. It allowed me to recognize that I am very capable. I understand that I am making the best work of my career.

Do you have any other news you would like to share?

I'm moving my studio to a wonderful, large space in Brooklyn. I plan to document the new work that I make there on www.raneytown.com.