10 Questions with Harper Hazelmare

Harper Hazelmare (she/they + we/our/ours) is a non-binary, queer, disabled botanical artist, writer of cautionary tales, and keeper of a community apothecary. Their art has been published in "Lived Collective" and "The Shallot" magazines and also shown in Chicago and New York exhibitions. Her current book, "Terms of Agreement," is available through Bottlecap Press.

Harper looks at her work as found objects finding their place together as we all seek to achieve in life. The botanical aspect is always present, with structures of pieces being wrought from plant perfusions and flower pressings. The question their art addresses is how movement indicates choice—how a single idea can spiral a mind into plant-like growths. They enjoy movement in her pieces, wishing for everyone to have the freedom of space and time.

www.brownhorseherbal.com | @brown.horse.herbal

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us about your background. When did you start getting involved with visual arts, and how?

I began taking art seriously when I was in middle school, around age eleven. I had shown some talent, and my art teacher recommended private lessons. I studied through the years while I explored other areas of the arts, mainly writing and acting, using art as an outlet more than anything else. Art came to the foreground when the pandemic started; I began to see myself as a confident artist and put myself out there to be shown in galleries in Chicago and New York and published in magazines like "The Shallot" and "Lived Collective".

And what role does the artist have in society?

Artists must speak to the human condition as we relate to all things: each other, ourselves, our bodies, nature, society, and culture. We help the world dream. And also, we must spark creativity in others who might believe they are not artistic: lawyers, scientists, bankers. It is our job to show people another way to be, another way to perceive the world. Art may be, and often is, a form of resistance against the status quo; we continually are in a fight against censorship. If we give different and varying voices a chance in our work, societies may consider/reconsider their customs more frequently.

You are both a visual artist and a writer. How would you define yourself as an artist, and what is your personal aim?

I seek to create order from chaos. Many of my art pieces include symbols and linework; I try to decipher where the pattern is within a blurred set of boundaries, much like my writing, which is often about finding the way out of disaster. One of my favorite art practices is creating a foundation with charcoal and drawing what I see within it using graphite. I like uncovering the depths of how I'm feeling at the time, going right to the source, and seeing what is there. In my piece "Flare", I was especially troubled by my disability the night that was created. Art is creating a language for what we cannot speak.

As a multidisciplinary artist, what is your creative process like? Where do you draw inspiration from, and how do you translate it into your work?

After morning tea, I start in the studio with writing for a few hours. I take a break for lunch and switch gears to artwork for another few hours. The end of the day is focused on administrative tasks. But then the pull may come in the evening and I will pursue whichever art form is speaking to me; I might write a few more chapters of a book or turn up some music and knock out a new piece of art. Regardless of what I am working on, it is always accompanied by music. I make playlists for art styles I want to convey as often as I make soundtracks for written work to carry a mood across. Music and nature are cornerstones.

In your work, you strongly rely on plants as both your source of inspiration and actual elements for the creation of your pieces. Where did you learn these techniques? And how did you get interested in these aspects?

The natural world I often explore with found and botanical objects; I enjoy pressing flowers and reconstructing plants. It comes from working as an herbalist and thus a carefully detailed observation of plants. I enjoy the patterns found in the natural world and have been immersed in nature most of my life, usually found wandering off in forests and foraging. The way the stems and leaves of a certain family of plants may prove similar, the spirals and the natural dyes created are fascinating. I have a whole host of materials to work with at any given time.

What is the most challenging part of your project or creative process?

The ability to make time for other things. I cherish my studio time and protect it. Unfortunately, that means missing out on some other opportunities, though I do take care to try and balance my solo time with being a human in need of contact and experiences. I live a lot in my own head and, as an extrovert, this can be quite challenging. I have to make sure I'm getting quality time with the people I love and participating in other people's art as an observer and collector, making sure my cup is filled up before pouring myself into my work.

What do you hope that the public takes away from your work?

A visceral feeling, perhaps indescribable. I want to create an emotional response in people that they need not, or cannot, identify. I want people to see possibility and have an understanding we all have a right to the spaces in which we move. Many of my finished pieces seem like works in progress, a permission to others that we each have the right to evolve.

On a different note, tell us more about your writing. What do you enjoy more about it? And how does your approach to art-making change when working with writing as opposed to visual arts?

I have been writing all my life, different passion projects through the years, and began being published in the last few years. While I may switch up the sub-genres from sci-fi to lyrical fiction, my main genre is horror. I have loved the avenues horror can take, both as a reader and writer. The main difference to me between making art and writing is art is playtime for the subconscious, and writing is more conscious. This is a generalization, of course, yet the ideas are sound. I write in the morning because I'm more capable of concrete thinking then; I can map out where we might be headed inside a story and see where it takes me. The afternoon finds me more emotional and capable of speaking in colors with brushes and paper or canvas.

You seem to have a very natural approach to both art and life. What is your opinion of the growing importance that the digital world has on contemporary art? And what do you think of AI?

I think there is room for all of it. Different skill sets are of use for different styles of voices. The trouble we get into, much like AI, is when we saturate the art world with one type or elevate only one kind of art. Compensation is a struggle among living artists, and pirating is a very real risk. While I have a more tactile style, it should not take away from someone else's digital art, just as their work should not devalue mine. Honest work is honest work, and we can support each other, no matter the types of work we do. Art is a small world; there's space for all of us.

And lastly, what are you working on right now, and what are your plans for the future?

Currently, I have a local art show hung and am working on a new collection of watercolor pieces, moving away from my typical acrylic and graphite. The motor control required is pushing me to explore my limits as a disabled artist. My science fiction book "Terms of Agreement" just released in 2023, and I'm now wading through the depths of working on a supernatural horror novel. It is a delight to be multidisciplinary; I tend to need more than one focus or I burn out quickly. The marriage of art and writing keeps me contained and working steadily.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.