MAXINE NIENOW IN THE AIR INTERVIEW
Interview · Photography · From the Ninu Nina archive
Maxine Nienow A painter turned photographer on people, Mexico, and learning to fly.
All photographs by Maxine Nienow
Maxine Nienow is a visual artist who inspires me with her creativity, and with the way she uses animation, photography, video, painting and interactive installations to explore inner identity and its relationship with the culture around it.
Born in Mexico, Maxine studied painting in Paris and cultural studies in Cuba and at UC Berkeley, before earning her BFA at Parsons School of Design in New York. She has a strong interest in anthropology: one of her recent projects takes on prejudice, cultural identity and violence as they play out in Mexico's class struggle. Her work has been exhibited and published in Mexico, across Latin America, in the US, and at the Hermitage Museum in Russia.
And lately, she's been teaching and performing around New York as an aerial acrobat.
Greatest inspirations or influences?
There have been so many people, places and events that have inspired me throughout my life that the list would be never-ending. I think of my family, friends and mentors, partly because I've had the chance to watch them develop over time, up close, and they've watched me develop alongside them. I'm constantly learning from my own experiences, but having so many people around me who have shared theirs, I feel as if I've gained their experience too, and learned that much more.
There are many painters, photographers and directors whose work has influenced my aesthetic, from the precise lines of Egon Schiele and Erwin Olaf's hyper-real lighting to Tim Burton's magical worlds. I've learned from their technique and their mastery of their medium. But the belief that I could pursue creating and expressing came mostly from the people around me.
"I'm inspired by people."
My subject matter and themes are based on moments that reveal some aspect of humanity I find myself fascinated with, and then I feel an impulse to capture and share it.
Most memorable project to date?
My series Mexican Family has been my favourite project so far. It involved so many things that I enjoy and that are very important to me. I worked with a lot of people, which I absolutely love. I spoke about my culture and my country. It gave me a framework to explore my own background in more depth, and to think about my responsibilities when communicating through art. And I got to make something beautiful.
What are you working on next?
I'm working on a few videos for an upcoming exhibition in New York called "Bridge: A Cultural Collaboration in New Media," which will include video work by visual artists based in the US and Russia. It's curated by Thomas Werner. My videos are short art-documentaries about different subjects that explore community, art and expression.
How does New York inspire your creativity?
I feel constantly inspired by New York: the endless possibilities it offers, the people creating and pushing to create what they love, the communities that grow around shared values. It's a city that accepts every kind of expression. I love it!
Tell us about "In the Air."
The video In the Air is about aerialists and the aerial community in New York. I wanted to give the viewer an experience of the beauty, and the struggle, that come with it.
I made it as part of my invitation to the "Bridge" exhibition. I wanted to show, through images and interviews, what it's like to build something: the persistence it takes, and the amazing, rewarding feeling when you push through your limitations.
I constantly hear people say they could never do something like that, because it takes so much strength. That's true for them, but it was also once true for people who have now been doing it for years. It's always challenging, no matter what level you're at. That's one of the great lessons aerial has taught me: you always come out stronger after you push through.
I wanted to show how, through any activity, you can express yourself, grow, find community and discover so much of yourself. For me, this video is about wondering: What am I passionate about? How does it challenge me? Why do I do it? What do I gain from it? How is it revealing a part of me I didn't know?
"Hopefully it will inspire people to keep choosing what they love, with a greater understanding of why."
Fifteen years later
Maxine now works from Brooklyn as a photographer, art director and set designer, a painter who switched mediums but never stopped painting with light. Her focus is portraiture. She builds whole environments with lighting, sets and styling so that the person in front of the camera feels free to be fully themselves, and the results look like paintings.
In 2011, the question behind In the Air was: how is this revealing a part of me I didn't know? Fifteen years on, it's the question she asks on behalf of her subjects.
For two years she ran the New York branch of Shameless Photography, a retro-inspired, body-positive studio built to help women feel safe, beautiful and powerful in front of the camera. She photographed more than 200 women there, many of whom discovered sides of themselves they hadn't known were there.
- ExhibitedHermitage Museum, Russia; Art Basel Miami Beach; The Armory Show, New York
- FlutuArte, 2012Co-created a public art project in which 45 international artists painted murals on the roofs of 60 fishing boats in a historic Rio de Janeiro harbour, bringing colour and a new tourism economy to the fishing community.
- Music videosDirected videos for a Latin Grammy-winning band.
- BasedBrooklyn, New York
Quick answers
Who is Maxine Nienow?
A Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based photographer, art director and set designer who trained as a painter. She studied painting in Paris, cultural studies in Cuba and at UC Berkeley, and earned her BFA at Parsons School of Design. She's known for painterly, vividly lit portraiture.
What is her series "Mexican Family"?
A staged photographic series exploring Mexican culture, class and her own background, which she has called her favourite project.
What is FlutuArte?
A public art project she co-created in 2012: 45 international artists painted murals on the roofs of 60 fishing boats in a historic harbour in Rio de Janeiro.
Where has she exhibited?
In Mexico, Latin America and the US, including the Hermitage Museum in Russia, Art Basel Miami Beach and The Armory Show in New York.
