Today we’d like to introduce you to Niz G.
Hi Niz, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been drawing and coloring since I was a kid. My Mom taught me some basics as did my Dad but other than that, I am largely self-taught. I became interested in spray painting and stencils as a young skateboarder and got my start painting grip tape and broken skateboards. That bled into graffiti and street art and as I started painting on walls, my work got bigger and bigger. I started painting for fun as a part of street culture but eventually began getting hired to paint murals and do commissions. Austin is where my career launched and I have been a full-time muralist here for 5 of the 12 years I’ve lived here.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Lol, noooooo. Being a full-time artist is not an easy road. There were years of rough spots having to learn how to do business, making sacrifices and being broke. Being a female had added challenges. Art is a passion job and passion jobs come with many hurdles-mainly that because it is an enjoyable job, you are likely to face lots of negotiation when it comes to pay and worth. It takes a long time to become established and in the interum, there is no real guidebook for how to be a street artist-honestly, a lot of us are writing that handbook as we go, haha.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a stencil artist/muralist who specializes in magical realism and spiritually centered work. I use a mix of watered down house paint and spray paint and juxtapose that with crisp, realistic portraiture. There is a lot of intention in what I paint, where I paint and who I paint for. As a general rule, my works aims at elevating consciousness and awakening people. I am known for my Goddess portraiture and musical portraits-some local ones are Aretha Franklin above Continental Club, Mr Rogers on Homeslice Pizza, Tupac on S Fist, and a large mirror image portrait on the S Lamar underpass.
I am most proud of my piece on the S Lamar Underpass, a portrait I did at Parlor Room on Rainey and a series of musical portrait I did at Cboys Heart and Soul. Also Stevie Ray on the back of Continental Club…..aaaand the entire pickle ball court I did for some friends in Westlake.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Hmmm, growing up I was an introvert/extrovert lol I was pretty shy when it came to a lot of things but always into art. Raised in Peru so exposed to a lot of shamanism and herbs and Catholicism early on 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: elenizzle@yahoo.com
- Website: www.nizgraphics.com
- Instagram: @elenizzle
- Facebook: Eleanor Niz
- Twitter: elenizzle
