The artist who simply goes by the name Mia has come a long way in a very short time. Having shown at such galleries as Copro Gallery, Roq La Rue, Gallery1988 (LA & SF), La Luz de Jesus, and Ad Hoc Art (just to name afew), the artist known as Mia has made an incredible impact using her huge imagination and finely tuned artistic skills. Even more incredible is the young age at which she has already accomplished all of this. Having graduated from Otis College of Art & Design (Valedictorian of her class, no less) only 2 years ago, her list of exhibitions and sold out shows is almost unbelieveable! I don't know if I should be excited or frightened at the future potential of this incredible young artist. On the brink of her second feature show at Corey Helford gallery in Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to grab a few minutes of Mia's time for some questions regarding her past accomplishments, her upcoming exhibition and what the future may hold for this bright young art star.

AMF: Where to begin! Ok, you were born and raised in Los Angeles. I know you have a twin sister who is also an artist. Talk a bit about your family in regards to your artistic development. What is it like to have a twin sister who is also pursuing artistic goals? Is the rest of your family artistic? How do they view all this interest in your work within the last 2 years since graduating from college?

MIA: I love my family, and they are the main reason that I am able to do what I do! It's definitely cool to have a twin sister, but the fact that she's also an artist just makes my life complete. We grew up drawing, making up stories, and pretending together, and were even in the same class in our 1st year at art school. When we split paths in 2nd year to pursue our different disciplines, I learned a lot about solitude and it really made me question and contemplate my dual-identity as a twin and as an individual. It also helped me explore my inner complexity, which is a huge aspect of what my work is based on. My sister always critiques my paintings when she comes home from work, and can often be a harsher critic than I am (which is excellent). She provides insight both from an artist's perspective and that of a viewer, and she offers the moral support that keeps me sane. She does fashion design, but she also loves drawing and telling stories, so we have enough similarities and differences to learn a lot from each other and collaborate well at the same time. My parents are not artistic, but they've always been very supportive of my artistic pursuits. They genuinely love what I do, and they enjoy coming to gallery openings with me, even when I have just one piece in a group show. I think they're surprised that things are actually going pretty well for me so far, because they didn't think gallery work would be too lucrative of a career choice. But they've offered to support me financially until I can get off my feet, which is tremendous encouragement.

AMF: How did you get into showing your work at galleries? I assume you were showing work even before you graduated from college. Was this something you found on your own or were their people in your life who showed you the ropes and encouraged you to show?

MIA: Nathan Ota and Bob Dob were two of my painting instructors at Otis, and they always encouraged us students to submit our work to group shows and galleries. I got accepted into the Kitschen Sync show at La Luz de Jesus in my senior year, but it was Nathan Cartwright from the Hive Gallery who got me started after I graduated. He offered me my first ‘featured show' at his gallery, and invited me to show work in his monthly group shows. LC offered me a spot at Cannibal Flower too, so after those two features, things just escalated from there-- I met some amazing people who believed in me and took a chance on me, getting me into group shows in the other galleries that I now am fortunate enough to show with.

AMF: Along with creating paintings for galleries I know that you also illustrate children's books, among many other things. You seem to be incredibly productive! How do these different creative outlets work together and how do you balance making this amount of work and still having time for family,friends and life in general?

MIA: I don't actually illustrate children's books as a profession-- the few things I've posted online were projects I did on the side for myself, in an attempt to explore different styles and to try my hand at stuff that I'd like to someday get into professionally.These days, my paintings are becoming larger and more complex, so I don't get to do much else than my gallery work. My social life has to suffer for my work, of course, but I don't mind one bit. I'm a homebody, and I'm happiest when I'm working. I admit that my life could use a bit more balance, so my sister takes me out on occasion to catch a film, take a walk outside, go to gallery openings and such. It would be nice to travel someday, but after taking three days off this weekend after 7 months of nonstop work, it feels weird to not be doing anything!

AMF: I was excited to see that one of the things that inspires you is performance art. I love the idea of making connections like this, between what people would consider to be a form of pop surrealism painting and performance art. I love all forms of art and I am excited to see these connections and I was wondering how you felt about all this?

MIA: I love all kinds of performance art (be it dance, theatre, musicals, opera, or the circus...). Some of my biggest heroes reside outside of the fine art world, and I take inspiration from nearly every form of art imaginable-music, animation, fashion, comics, poetry, literature, silent films, vintage photography...I soak it all up like a sponge and try to use every bit of it. Like anyone else, I am made up of the things that I love, and those things are many and varied. The complexity and blurring of boundaries is what makes something truly unique and exciting for me.

AMF: Getting back to your work...your paintings seem to me like dark, intensely layered fairytales focused on a female protagonist (or antagonist). It's as though I am seeing an entire novel or pieces of a novel being told in a single image. Have you always wanted to create work like this? Where does it come from, beyond your own imagination? What fuels these fantastical stories that we have all come to love so much?

MIA: No, it hasn't always been like this. Until very recently, I used to suppress my emotions and hide from myself a lot. Also, in school I would summarize my identity in my work, in order to communicate as an illustrator. After graduating from Otis, there was some sort of explosion in my head, and I realized that I hadn't been entirely true to myself in my art-making. Being my own boss now, the pressure of peers and superiors judging my work is more distant and abstracted, so it feels safer to put more of myself into my work. As I said earlier, the ideas come from all the things I'm passionate about-whether it's a song that has really powerful imagery, a podcast that intrigues me, or an audio book that I'm listening to...My head feels as vast as the seven seas, filled with all the stuff that makes me ‘me'. All I need is the courage to put on the diver's gear and jump in-it's a scary, mysterious, beautiful world in there, and each time I'll surface with something different. The paintings are like my journals in which I share my findings and discoveries with the rest of the world.

AMF: As a curator, I have rarely come across someone who has accomplished so much at such a young age. I know the world is full of many beautiful things but it can also contain a few not so beautiful things such as jealousy and envy over someone else's success. Do you ever deal with such things or do you feel removed from such negativity?

MIA: Well, let me say that what I've achieved in this short time would be impossible if not for the likes of Robert Williams, Todd Schorr, Mark Ryden and all the other artists that paved the way for artists in this movement today, and I never take that for granted. I've been very fortunate to receive positive feedback from others so far, however there are always negative and poisonous thoughts, and mostly they come straight from me. This is probably the toughest part of being a young artist-my self-criticism is severe and often ruthless, and I have to be careful to not let it become overwhelming and just plain ridiculous. It's good that I'm my harshest critic, as it's what makes me work harder and try harder, and it keeps me coming back for more every day. It would get boring really quickly if I had it all figured out, and if everything turned out the way I planned it every time.

AMF: This is something I always ask: Have you ever created a piece of art and thought, "This is one of the most important pieces I will ever make."? Or is the most important work always the stuff you are currently working on?

MIA: Hm. I usually hate every single piece I make at some point during the process, and that feeling even lingers when I'm finished sometimes. But then something magical happens when the painting goes off to the photographer's and returns to me a week later. Something about seeing the jpeg on a screen makes me say, ‘oh wow I actually like this piece', or eventually ‘this is one of my favorites.' Of course there are a few pieces I've never warmed up to all the way, but I generally arrive on peaceful terms with all of them. I feel that I can't love a piece if I don't hate it first, hehe. But it's much too early in my life to classify a piece as the most important I will ever make.

AMF: You have shown at some incredible galleries and done quite well at all of them. As you gear up for what is sure to be your second successful feature show at Corey Helford Gallery, what are your thoughts? Beyond that, what do you want to do in the next 5-10 years? I know you want to seriously attack the world of children's book illustration. Is there anything else you would like to do? Is there a clear vision for all this or just a determination to keep moving forward towards a very bright yet somewhat unknown future?

MIA: There are several different lives I'd like to live, and I don't know if it's really one big action-packed life all interwoven with different career paths, but I'll give you an idea: Children's books of course. I feel like that's a calling of some kind. I'd love to write and illustrate, series after series, story after story, and I could see myself doing that for a very long time. But then I've always wanted to direct and write stories for animated shorts, or a feature length animated film. More than anything, I know I have to do something with my sister- whether we write books, invent a flying machine, or open a crazy performing arts company unlike any other...I don't know. But I think it's in the stars for us to do something artistic together, and I feel like it should be something epic.