Interviewing Native Artist: Noelle Hutchcraft

Giselle George interviews Noelle Hutchcraft, a Native American graphic designer and artist. Noelle's main art medium is photography and videography, and she also does graphic design. Her Native American heritage influences her art, with a focus on nature and the earth. She incorporates her culture into her fashion choices, particularly through jewelry. Noelle is inspired by Impressionist artists and Native artists. She incorporates her Native American culture into her graphic design, telling individual stories and challenging stereotypes. COVID-19 provided an opportunity for Noelle to focus on her art and improve her skills. She advises content creators to be authentic and relatable while staying true to their art form. Hello, hi. This is Giselle George, and today I'll be interviewing Noelle Hutchcraft, graphic designer and Native American artist. Hello, Noelle. Hello. So I wanted to ask you, what is your main art medium? My main art medium usually consists of photography or videography, and on the side I do, like, graphic design, for example, like album covers or usually whatever clients want. I just kind of follow along with their criteria. Okay, cool, cool. So what part of your identity inspires your art and art form? I would say a lot of, like, my past on reservations kind of influences the way I look at art. A lot of art in Native communities consists of your connection to the earth or, like, connection to the nature around you. So I like to take a lot of time and look at my surroundings and just where I'm at currently and kind of connect and influence all those things into whatever piece I'm working on. Okay, cool. So, Noelle, what are some fashion or stylistic choices that you make that kind of reflect your art style? I really like to self-express through fashion. I think that's one of the fun things about being, like, an artist is being able to make small little details. Maybe that's only relevant to me as a person, but kind of express them out to, like, the community I'm in. I think jewelry is a really interesting way to accessorize just because it ties in culturally. So turquoise is, like, a really big thing for the Navajo people, which is my tribe, or silversmithing, which is a specialty of my tribe. So being able to kind of, like, represent my heritage and my traditions and culture all in one through, like, a ring or a necklace is fun. Okay, so also, who are some artists that inspire you and your art form? I really have been into the Impressionist era of artists just because they kind of really fought against, like, norms and boundaries of the time where they kind of really started to get into experimenting with, like, boundaries or, like, different color palettes and going against, like, what was considered normal at the time with art. And on a more relevant, like, modern level, I really like looking at Native artists in particular, a lot of which don't have a lot of, like, fame or recognition. But a lot of my friends, I feel like, are very good at incorporating themselves into their pieces that make it very unique and very individualistic to where, like, I don't think people could replicate what they do. So a lot of the people I look up to just happen to be, like, peers or, like, people that I work with. So do you ever incorporate anything from your Native American culture into your graphic design? And could you give, like, practical examples of maybe how something in your culture has inspired you while making something for a client? I really like putting individual stories to pieces. Like, for example, right now, I'm working on, like, a small short film about, like, a small Indigenous boy, kind of going through the motions of what reservation life is like. And being able to portray that through film or short film has been really interesting. Just, you know, talking and getting stories from people to kind of incorporate into this one narrative has been very interesting to do. Other examples might be basketball is a really big thing on reservations. I feel like I've incorporated a lot of that in pieces. Even, like, in high school, a lot of the paintings I would do kind of circulated around this idea of, like, tradition and what we as a people have and what we're kind of known for. And fighting against that stereotype and kind of showing the beauty of our people rather than just, like, the stereotypical very dated-looking Native, I guess. So have there ever been moments in life that have been transformational or any events being either very good events or bad events in your life that have influenced your artistic expression or cultivated more artistic expression? I think COVID actually was a period where I did a lot of work, I guess, just because I had a lot of time and kind of was stuck in a house for many months. So I really took that time to kind of learn what art is or the fundamentals of art, I guess. And as boring as that might seem, it kind of really set a foundation for what I know now. And it's kind of opened a lot of doors, even if it doesn't seem, like, very experimental or, like, very out-of-this-world experience. It just taught me a lot to kind of just force myself to sit down and draw and force myself to get good at what I wanted to be good at, even if it wasn't the most exciting thing at the time. So getting to learn, like, the fundamentals of, you know, camera work or videography or painting or anatomy, it was all just very basic, but it really set the stage for what I do now as a graphic designer. And is there any advice you would give to any content creators? And, you know, you're very successful at that. Manuel has around 500,000 followers on TikTok. Close, yeah. 400K, yeah. 400K. Is there any advice that you would like to give to anyone, an emerging artist, regarding how to really stand out in the market while remaining true to their art form? Is there anything you'd like to say? I think now, especially, people look for individuality, but also, like, a sense of realness when it comes to, like, the content you make. So if people can see that you put yourself into your content, but also make it relevant to the time around you, it's very not only marketable, but it's relatable. But also, if you're an interesting enough person, there will also be aspects of it that are unique and bring in, like, a niche audience or, like, not necessarily, like, a cult following, but you'll start to, like, gather, like, a group of people with the same likeness as you that want to see the same stuff as you or see the stuff that you produce. So just knowing, like, the aesthetic that you have and knowing your audience can really get you very far when it comes to media. Thank you so, so much, Noelle, for your insight. It's been great talking to you. Very insightful. Of course. Yes, yes. And we'll be back with more.