Nancey B. Price Interview
Nancey B. Price | @nanceybprice
Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, where you’re from and what you do.
I am a self-taught collage artist, performance storyteller and writer from Girard, GA. My work is centered on the celebration of Blackness in a variety of forms and is influenced by my experiences as a Black woman who has spent her entire life in rural Georgia. I enjoy evoking the art of storytelling in all my work, both visually and in the written word. I have been journaling and writing stories for as long as I can remember and in 2016, I started incorporating collage art into the mix. With my art, I have been able to connect with so many people and it has taken me places I could not have imagined for myself.
“...seeing how vivid and detailed my imagination can get before finally stepping back to admire my work. Nothing compares to the feeling of being a creator.”
How did you get your start as an artist?
I started collaging on a whim just five years ago, though I like to think my childhood obsession with paper dolls influenced my love of cutting paper and telling stories with the things I cut out today. I always cite the work of Mirlande Jean-Gilles as the catalyst to my beginning my career as a collage artist. I discovered her work on Etsy one day and was enthralled with how she created whole new worlds from paper and her imagination. It was her art that inspired me to grab some scissors and paper to see what I could create with my own mind.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love telling stories. Setting scenes with various characters, building backgrounds and foregrounds from scratch. Seeing how vivid and detailed my imagination can get before finally stepping back to admire my work. Nothing compares to the feeling of being a creator.
When things get tough, where do you find the inspiration to keep moving forward?
My journal, my altar and therapy are generally the first things I turn to when I feel myself getting in a rut. I’ve kept a journal for my thoughts since I was a little girl and over the past year, I’ve become even more intentional with journaling as regularly as I can because it’s my first line of defense in terms of me getting to the roots of my problems. Then, once I get to therapy, my therapist and I can decipher some of the main themes that have come up in my entries and figure out healthy ways to work through them. Furthermore, I have a strong connection to my ancestors and keeping an alter in reverence to them always keeps me centered. I believe I have a very strong support system, both in this world and beyond. Therefore, when I’m feeling down, my altar reminds me of that support and helps to ground me.
“I love telling stories. Setting scenes with various characters, building backgrounds and foregrounds from scratch. Seeing how vivid and detailed my imagination can get before finally stepping back to admire my work. Nothing compares to the feeling of being a creator.”
Who is another collagist you admire most and why?
There isn’t a specific person I admire more than any other, but there are certain characteristics I admire that exist in so many people I’ve had the privilege to be introduced to or who’s work I’ve come across. The spirit of independence and perseverance; imagination; creativity; building connections—I’m drawn to people who exude these characteristics in one way or the other. They exist in my family, friends, working relationships, and even in people who I admire from afar. They’re all characteristics I strive to incorporate in my own life and creative practice.
Tell me something unusual that makes you happy.
This isn’t unusual, but I really love my dog, Olivia. She came into my life as a stray in 2019 and she has been a light in my life ever since. I experience joy every morning I wake up and see her. Just by looking in her eyes, anyone can tell that she is a dog who has lived many lives. She knows how to have fun but is generally chill and often gives me looks to let me know she’s not with my shenanigans. She’s openly judgmental yet loving and kind and I love her so much for keeping me in check. At the end of the day, she just wants me to succeed lol.
Top three songs you keep on repeat?
I am a music connoisseur and often, you can find me sharing all sorts of songs and artists on my IG stories. Sharing music, for me, is a love language and I have a song in my arsenal for any occasion. With that said, the songs I have on repeat changes all the time. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Aguardiente y Limón by Kali Uchis, Djuana by Super Mama Djombo, and Dora by Tierra Whack.
Podcast you can’t get enough of?
I am a faithful listener of the The Read with Kid Fury & Crissle. The Read is a pop culture podcast in which the hosts reviews Black celebrity gossip, answer listener questions, and discuss what pissed them off that week. It’s a podcast not for the faint at heart, but the topics discussed are relevant and I get my life every time a new episode is released.
How do you fuel for the day?
If I have a good morning, then the rest of my day, either during the work week or on the weekends, is sure to be good a well. A good morning for me is rising early, making a cup of coffee, burning incense, and doing something that fuels my creativity before I get my day started. Lately, I’ve been on a creative hiatus, so I hadn’t had much of an impetus to get out of bed and do things. However, once I noticed that it was messing with my mental health, I now get out of bed early enough each day to write in my journal. That way, even if I’m not actively creating, I’m at least examining what’s on my mind for that morning, and sometimes, that leads me down a creative rabbit hole anyway.
Tell us about your vision for the future. Go big! We want to root you on!
I dream of being a published author and recognized for both my visual art as well as my works of fiction. That has always been a major goal for me for as long as I can remember. Way before the collage art and before I ever thought of stepping on a stage to tell stories, I was a writer. During by creative break, I rediscovered how amazing it feels to use the written word to tell stories and I want to hold on to that feeling and get lost in it once again. I started writing a novel in 2015 after I graduated from college and I’ve been working on it ever since. I knew it would take me a long time to finish it, and though I’m often discouraged by my creative process, I know that the story I hope to tell with this novel is one that needs to be told, regardless of how long it takes me to finish it.
Nancey B. Price | @nanceybprice
www.nanceybprice.com
