Jasika Nicole Pruitt draws fairies. Well, fairies with a street edge, that is. I mean, if Tinkerbell rocked afropuffs, hung out in the East Village and had a part time gig at Urban Outfitters (for the discount, of course) – those kind of fairies. It’s not hard to see where this diminutive artist finds the inspiration for many of her illustrations. Jasika herself has a gamine-like quality; kinda reminds you of a sweet little brown wood nymph. No, I got it. She’s a cross between Corrine Bailey Rae and Denise Huxtable circa 1984 ---you know, Denise pre-Hillman weave, when she was rockin’ that cute little pixie cut? That’s Jasika alright. And, if this real-life Sugar Plum fairy looks at all familiar to you, it may be because illustrating is only one of this talented little lady’s many creative pursuits. She is also an accomplished actress of stage and film and a dancer (check for her starring as “Egypt” in the 2006 Antonio Banderas/ Alfre Woodard flick Take the Lead.)

Reading up on background in preparation for this interview, I discovered that Jasika possesses a quirky creativity that seems to permeate every aspect of her artistic expression (s.) Even her on-line journal seamlessly takes on everything from food stamps to grief to a curiously tasty-sounding recipe for “Peanut Butter Soup” (the hell!) So, I figured, since we were dealing with an original here, I’d come at her with a couple-few kick-ball-changes, along with the conventional “what’s your motivation” type questions to keep this dancer on her toes.

A.C. Workman: I noticed there’s nothing ugly or disturbing in your work. Even a picture of a girl crying has a sweet, almost enchanting quality to it. Is this intentional?

Jasika:It’s not intentional on a conscious level, but I have a tendency to demonstrate emotions in very subtle, nuanced ways. I think there is a lot of loveliness to be found in ugly and disturbing things; depression, feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, cruelty, those are all emotions that I have portrayed in pieces of my artwork at some point or another, but when someone sees that emotion communicated in the face and the body of a girl I have drawn, although they get a sense of the darker sentiment that’s within her, the art still comes across as gentle and engaging. Ugliness can be gentle and engaging, and relatable since we as humans have all felt it before; ugliness is just a part of existing.

A.C. Workman: You credit Shel Silverstein as a major influence. What other artists have had an impact on your style?

Jasika: Do you remember those Steve Madden ads from years and years ago with the girls with the huge heads and the tiny bodies? They were all wearing cute outfits and a pair of Steve Madden shoes. I remember being wildly influenced by those ads and spending hours trying to copy that idea with my own penmanship. I used to sew a lot and initially all my artwork was influenced by fashion. I thought that I would be a clothing designer or a fashion illustrator, but eventually my drawings became less about the clothes the girls were wearing and more about the way they were feeling. One day someone saw my artwork and said that it reminded him of Kurt Halsey. I went and looked Kurt Halsey up and was immediately taken by his images. There is a similarity with how we depict people, the lines are very round and feminine and childlike.

A.C. Workman: What’s your creative process like? I mean, HOW do you like to work (day/night, outside/inside, at a desk/on your bed, alone/around people?)

Jasika:All the images I draw come from my head, so I get inspired by what I see around me and by what I feel, but I never use people as subjects. This is so weird, but I create my best work when I am supposed to be doing something else. Sitting down and forcing myself to draw never yields results as good as the ones when I just randomly find some paper and a pencil and start drawing. My last three pieces were drawn while I was bored at my cocktail waitressing job. Once, when I was working on a film in Toronto, I was allowed to choose what props I wanted to use in my scenes. I chose a blue-jean bound blank journal to keep in my character’s bookbag, and every time we were on set in between takes, I would pull the journal out and start drawing. By the end of shooting I had filled most of the journal up, so I ripped out all the pages and brought them with me back to New York. Several of the drawings were inspired by the other actors I worked with in the film.

A.C. Workman: What do you have against cheese?

Jasika:I have such an adamant aversion to cheese that it’s embarrassing. But since you asked, let me just take this time to redeem myself and say that my hatred of cheese is not 100%; I LOVE Doritos.

A.C. Workman: Dancers are the subject in much of your artwork. Like Degas and his ballerinas. Besides giving you access to a lot of beautiful bodies for models, and an excuse to wear leg warmers, how does dancing affect your work as an illustrator?

Jasika:College was the first time that I had ever taken dancing seriously (I had put all my concentration into theater and voice prior to college). Ultimately, legs and feet and ankles and fluidity and gracefulness became dominant in my artwork. Dancers are a special kind of artist; you can spot them from a mile away, just because of the way that they move, the way that they hold themselves, their posture. People make fun of me for walking on my tiptoes all the time, but I don’t mind; that’s how I imagine that the girls in my drawings walk, too, which is kind of what I have been obsessing over lately. I am so curious to know how they move. As soon as I have time, I want to take some animation classes so that I can start setting these girls to movement.

A.C. Workman: What do you want people to feel when they look at a Jasika Nicole drawing?

Jasika:I want them to feel like it’s a world they would want to live in.

A.C. Workman: Do you believe in fairies?

Jasika:I liked your description of my girls as “fairies” so much that I just might have to start.

Want to see more of Jasika’s work? Check out these sites: jasikanicole.com & myspace.com/jasikadraws.

About The Author

A.C. Workman is a freelance writer, poet and platform shoe devotee. Unlike the artist, she regards cheese as one of the most underrated foodstuffs since the collard green. Although Mz. Workman does not typically associate herself with vicious cheese-haters, she made an exception in Jasika’s case on account the girl can draw her %$#@ off !