Meet Nicola!
From the sun-kissed shores of Sydney, Nicola @nicolahiggins stands as a beacon of ethereal creativity. With a deep-rooted passion for portraits and fashion, she weaves intriguing textures and patterns, bringing to life young women set against intricate backdrops. While her art is grounded in traditional sensibilities, there's a fresh, digital aura that's uniquely hers. Venturing into AI, she maintains a painterly quality, favoring airy visuals and pastel shades. Every piece she creates is a testament to her exceptional talent. In this interview, we explore her journey, uncovering the inspirations behind her unique blend of art and technology.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got interested in AI art?
I'm a single mum living in Sydney, Australia. I spent my childhood and teens drawing constantly, and the drawings were always of pretty women in fancy clothing, often of my friends in wedding dresses! I studied Fashion Design when I left school and had a fashion label and 3 boutiques for about 15 years. I then stopped to have kids and started art school, pursuing a bachelor of Fine Art, majoring in painting, which I've nearly finished. This year at school, one of my elected subjects was 'Art in the Digital Age' which covers AI art, and that's how I learned about Midjourney. As soon as I joined up, I was hooked and immediately spent every spare minute creating AI images.
Who or what are your artistic inspirations, and how do they influence your work?
With regular art (paintings), I love Modern portraiture and contemporary abstraction, and I find inspiration in the portraits of Modernists and Surrealists. But when it comes to creating with AI, I indulge in fashion-oriented imagery, something I typically avoid in my real-life painting. AI allows me to make all sorts of stuff that the traditional art world may reject. I like to inject whimsical and painterly details into my AI images—anything pretty, feminine, quirky, colorful, or fantastical.
How do you approach the creative process when working with AI?
Usually an idea pops into my head during the day and when I get a chance I'll sit down at the computer to give it a try. I have so many inspirational images saved that creative blocks aren’t really an issue. The real challenge is finding the time!
Can you share a specific moment that transformed your perspective on AI art?
I guess I can talk about challenging others' perspective of AI art. In the beginning, making AI art was my secret guilty pleasure! I kept it separate from my other art because of the negative views many hold about its legitimacy. But after doing some research and writing an essay on AI for class, I realized that AI can be vital in helping people visualize their ideas, and expand their creativity. I decided to incorporate it into my traditional art practice. Sometimes I paint the AI image as it is, or place an AI figure onto an abstract painted background. I've also taken AI images, both physically and digitally, and created collages from them. At times, I've printed them and painted over the top. In this way, AI has become a tool that aids my creative process.
How do you balance your work in AI art with other professional or personal pursuits?
Unfortunately, I struggle with balancing work, motherhood, life, and AI, so something always feels left behind! When I became addicted to AI in the first couple of months, it kind of took over and my other art work suffered, but thankfully the honeymoon period is easing off now!
How has working with AI in art influenced your mental and emotional wellbeing?
I find it really fun and creatively satisfying but I need to put a time limit on it each day.
In your opinion, how does AI redefine the concept of creativity and artistic agency, and how do you see it impacting the future of art?
I think AI is confusing to some people because they wonder how much input is human and how much is the machine. But if we judge AI works only in comparison to other AI (not photography or any other art form) then we can start to appreciate how incredible it is. The AI community is so positive and welcoming because everyone is there purely for the joy of seeing what they can make the machine do. Most seem to be creatives, like writers, designers, makeup artists, fashion designers, curators etc., and they love seeing their ideas come to life.
For me, AI enables me to create something to paint, rather than searching images online of real people or using photos of friends. It’s a fun and practical tool. For AI-only artists, I believe there is a place for them in the art world in the future, distinctly separate from photography. It's essential that the two aren’t confused and that AI is always clearly labeled so people can appreciate it for its unique story and process.
What role do you think AI art can play in highlighting social issues?
Well, I believe any compelling image can help highlight important issues. AI artists can generate incredible pictures that support their cause. As long as it's not used for fake-photo political stunts, then I'm all for it!
If you could collaborate with any artist, living or not, who would it be and why?
In all honesty, the time travel aspect would be the best thing about it. So, I'd have to say meeting one of the surrealists, like Leonor Fini, would be amazing, or even Artemisia Gentileschi for some 17th-century exploration!
What advice or encouragement would you give to aspiring women who are interested in pursuing AI art?
Just sit down and start! Your first few hundred images might be rough, but just keep going and you’ll start creating amazing stuff!!!
For more of Nicola’s incredible work, make sure to visit her Instagram account: @nicolahiggins