Today we’d like to introduce you to Lola Blanche Higgins.
Lola, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
When I was two months old, I was stolen from my aunt’s wedding. Eventually, after much chaotic confusion and tears, I was found in a hotel room with my Great Grandma Blanche and a drunk Irish priest – they were finishing an emergency baptism. Along with many other brave acts – my mother was the first to break a long lineage of Irish Catholics, much to the dissatisfaction of her family. The scene strikes me now as incredibly sad and yet somewhat funny – the trepidation that drove my great grandma to steal me for fear of me burning for an eternity in hell.
Though, of course, I don’t remember this at all – whenever someone asks me where I come from, this story always comes to mind.
I have great respect for all art forms – though I’ve not always found it easy to find my niche within that space. In the final year of studying Fine Art at Edinburgh, I found the printing studio tucked into the basement of the old college. I decided to practice and perfect intaglio printing making. The process requires dexterity, perseverance and dipping your fingers into corrosive substances – all something I’ve found helpful since I began making films.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a writer/director working in fiction. I am currently finishing up an MFA at the American Film Institute and am supported by BAFTA LA to study.
Before I got to LA I wrote and directed a low budget film called THE EGG AND THE THIEVING PIE – a surreal short exploring the idea of animal traits in human form. I wanted to explore the sentience/characteristics of the animals. The Magpie must steal to be a Magpie, the Praying Mantis must murder her husband to be true to her nature and the Turtle’s life is dedicated to the safe delivery of her eggs. On a primal level we begin to empathize with the characters and ask: What animal qualities do we possess that lie just beneath the surface or skin? I believe there are more than we may realize.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
I was once lucky enough to once hear Danny Boyle speak. He said something along the lines of – success in film making comes from picking yourself up in the face of constant setbacks. At the time it didn’t resonate with me that strongly, however few years on I find myself returning to this sentiment quite regularly!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I am currently finishing my AFI thesis KISSY AND THE SHARK with an incredible group of collaborators from AFI. The film centers around an 11 year old girl who tries to save a beached shark by taking it back to her family RV. All going well it should be finished by June 2021. Concurrently I am in development for the feature version which has been a lot of fun!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lolablanchehiggins.com/
- Phone: 3234434333
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lolablanchehiggins/
- Other: https://www.kissy.co/
Image Credit:
Theo Lindquist
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