0:00:00.450,0:00:03.117 (ambient music) 0:00:05.220,0:00:07.473 - Fantasy for me is survival. 0:00:10.770,0:00:12.810 It's not just pleasure. 0:00:12.810,0:00:13.643 It's, 0:00:15.300,0:00:17.010 essential. 0:00:17.010,0:00:19.785 It has been, I think for my whole life. 0:00:19.785,0:00:22.452 (ambient music) 0:00:25.996,0:00:28.829 (object rattling) 0:00:32.310,0:00:34.143 I am Naudline Pierre. 0:00:35.490,0:00:37.173 I am an artist. 0:00:38.250,0:00:42.580 I make paintings,[br]sculpture, works on paper 0:00:43.470,0:00:48.330 that explore an alternate[br]universe with celestial beings 0:00:48.330,0:00:52.110 and other worldly creatures,[br]and a main character 0:00:52.110,0:00:54.330 or protagonist who is growing 0:00:54.330,0:00:57.359 and sort of shares a[br]likeness to me, but isn't me. 0:00:57.359,0:01:00.526 (ambient piano music) 0:01:01.440,0:01:03.840 I was able to hang on to this sense 0:01:03.840,0:01:07.263 of fantasy from a young[br]age due to necessity. 0:01:10.350,0:01:11.730 I was born into a family 0:01:11.730,0:01:15.005 that had really strong religious beliefs. 0:01:15.005,0:01:18.150 (ambient piano music) 0:01:18.150,0:01:19.893 I had a ton of fear as a kid. 0:01:21.510,0:01:24.690 I think there was a fear of[br]not being righteous enough 0:01:24.690,0:01:27.010 to make it to the next spot 0:01:29.130,0:01:32.460 and that I would get left[br]behind here in the world 0:01:32.460,0:01:36.273 that didn't quite work out[br]in the failed experiment. 0:01:37.650,0:01:42.650 And here I am, almost 35[br]and still here. (laughs) 0:01:43.062,0:01:46.050 (ambient and string music) 0:01:46.050,0:01:50.580 Thinking about flying and[br]burning and destroying 0:01:50.580,0:01:55.580 and creating and loving[br]and hating and raging. 0:01:55.740,0:01:59.700 Like I can just do all[br]of that in the studio 0:01:59.700,0:02:01.920 and I can do that through the stories 0:02:01.920,0:02:04.496 that these characters[br]are allowing me to tell. 0:02:04.496,0:02:07.500 (ambient music) 0:02:07.500,0:02:11.520 Sometimes I come into the[br]studio and nothing's happening, 0:02:11.520,0:02:15.150 and I have to 0:02:15.150,0:02:19.420 sit and stare and wait[br]for these characters 0:02:20.700,0:02:23.070 to allow me in, 0:02:23.070,0:02:28.070 and these characters give me the okay. 0:02:28.650,0:02:32.580 A lot of the time I[br]feel myself asking them 0:02:32.580,0:02:35.763 to make themselves known to me. 0:02:36.720,0:02:37.713 Who are they? 0:02:38.880,0:02:41.010 I don't exactly know, and I like 0:02:41.010,0:02:43.348 to kind of keep the mystery there. 0:02:43.348,0:02:45.900 (ambient music) 0:02:45.900,0:02:47.370 I have these characters 0:02:47.370,0:02:51.450 that are just like a[br]head connected to wings. 0:02:51.450,0:02:54.660 And then I have characters that have arms 0:02:54.660,0:02:56.280 and legs and wings. 0:02:56.280,0:02:57.870 And then I have guardians, 0:02:57.870,0:03:01.440 which are really, really tall beings. 0:03:01.440,0:03:05.760 And then I have the central[br]figure who is more human 0:03:05.760,0:03:10.080 and doesn't have the appearance 0:03:10.080,0:03:11.580 of these celestial beings, 0:03:11.580,0:03:15.120 but is learning how to[br]harness her own powers 0:03:15.120,0:03:18.063 to sort of fly on her own. 0:03:19.290,0:03:23.220 I think "I, A Terror[br]Loosed Upon Your Heels" 0:03:23.220,0:03:24.810 was a really pivotal work for me 0:03:24.810,0:03:27.720 because it was one of the first works 0:03:27.720,0:03:32.720 where the central figure is[br]leading a charge in motion. 0:03:35.610,0:03:38.370 She's riding a chariot of fire, 0:03:38.370,0:03:41.225 being pulled by celestial beings. 0:03:41.225,0:03:43.200 (ambient music) 0:03:43.200,0:03:45.780 For me, that work is very powerful 0:03:45.780,0:03:48.780 because she's holding[br]herself up surrounded 0:03:48.780,0:03:51.720 by these other supportive characters 0:03:51.720,0:03:55.050 and it's kind of like, yeah, "I'm a terror 0:03:55.050,0:03:56.463 and I'm coming after you." 0:03:56.463,0:03:58.770 (ambient music) 0:03:58.770,0:04:02.460 I think I look for places[br]where I can feel that thing 0:04:02.460,0:04:04.020 that you can't really express 0:04:04.020,0:04:05.970 with words that you feel in your heart. 0:04:07.020,0:04:08.910 One of my favorite places in the city, 0:04:08.910,0:04:11.430 I would have to say[br]would be the cloisters. 0:04:11.430,0:04:14.820 It just feels really good to be in a place 0:04:14.820,0:04:17.970 where I feel a lot of inspiration. 0:04:17.970,0:04:22.083 It transports me to another time. 0:04:23.580,0:04:26.760 I think what attracts me to[br]that time period is the fact 0:04:26.760,0:04:29.910 that these are very much European males 0:04:29.910,0:04:33.510 and they probably weren't[br]thinking about someone like me 0:04:33.510,0:04:35.060 when they were making the work. 0:04:37.080,0:04:39.810 That I get to take whatever[br]I want from history 0:04:39.810,0:04:43.417 and reframe it all to[br]include what I wanna see. 0:04:43.417,0:04:46.530 (ambient music) 0:04:46.530,0:04:48.930 At an early age I just was always thinking 0:04:48.930,0:04:53.930 about things unseen and[br]fantastical imagery and beasts 0:04:54.210,0:04:58.023 and prophecies and the end of the world. 0:04:59.940,0:05:04.940 I think this idea of celestial beings, 0:05:05.040,0:05:07.890 stars, flames, serpents, 0:05:07.890,0:05:12.890 it connects to a sort of unseen world 0:05:13.140,0:05:15.626 and I grew up with a lot[br]of that kind of language. 0:05:15.626,0:05:18.293 (ambient music) 0:05:23.280,0:05:26.940 Growing up, it was just understood that 0:05:26.940,0:05:29.890 this wasn't my final home,[br]that there was another one 0:05:31.170,0:05:33.903 that was being built[br]for me somewhere else, 0:05:34.740,0:05:38.310 and if I just hung on long enough, 0:05:38.310,0:05:39.510 I'd make it to that place. 0:05:39.510,0:05:42.820 And so being able to make another place 0:05:43.770,0:05:47.673 where I call the shots,[br]it's a nice feeling. 0:05:48.712,0:05:53.712 (traffic sounding)[br](horn blowing) 0:05:53.880,0:05:56.850 Now that I'm an adult,[br]I can kind of understand 0:05:56.850,0:05:58.923 how and why I am who I am. 0:06:01.140,0:06:05.310 I embody different aspects[br]of myself, different aspects 0:06:05.310,0:06:07.160 of these creatures that I'm painting. 0:06:09.450,0:06:12.570 It's about embracing my own multiplicity 0:06:12.570,0:06:16.143 and drawing power from change. 0:06:17.040,0:06:19.860 I am learning from the[br]characters who are allowing me 0:06:19.860,0:06:23.470 to show them as they change, as they grow 0:06:24.390,0:06:26.979 they are many in one. 0:06:26.979,0:06:29.562 (synth music)