introduce yourself
My name is Daisy Giles and I am a painter, a singer, and a poet. I love all of the arts, but I must say that painting is definitely my first love. I am of mixed heritage but I don’t consider myself as half this or half that. I am a black woman, a Latina, an American woman, the daughter of an immigrant, a descendant of the oldest peoples in the Americas, a best friend, and a sister. My femininity and my cultural identity is a large part of my art. My work is about the beauty of women, the diversity of women, and women in conjunction with nature. I paint how I feel and how I desire to feel.
I’m also very interested in portraiture. I would rather paint someone’s personality and capture that look in their eye or a memory they had than to do photo-realism. I’m hoping that I have more opportunities to pursue that in the future.
Aside from my work, I love cooking and inventing new recipes, dancing to Bollywood movies, and sitting around with friends doing absolutely nothing.
fav lyric from a song
My homeboy LipSet is an up and coming hip-hop artist and I love this quote from his song Frustrated.
“When I buckle down, see there’s nothing on my knuckles now, kicking down a different door, strippin down in front of the crowd. You see me? I’m not a different kind a dude. There’s a little bit of you in every single thing I do.”
who and what inspires you
I am most inspired by the female form, by hair, by nature, by my boyfriend’s melodies, and by those that I love. However – I keep a sketchbook on me 100% of the time in case inspiration strikes me unawares!
who are your icons, past and present
I have many different artistic influences so this is a hard question. I wouldn’t say that I have any icons, but my older brother Nathan has been more of an influence to my life than I think he knows. He is the kind of person that tends to bring out the best in everyone he meets. My family is very important to me and these last four years in college have really helped that concept to set in. They are my past, my present, and hopefully my future also.
the nublack philosophy/mantra according to Daisy Giles
People are different. We will never be able to please everyone and there are some people who desire nothing but to see others fail. This does not mean that having haters should be a measure of success. It is unwise to judge your own success in that manner. Everyone needs other people in order to be successful and we all would do well to remember that.