Conversations with Niko D’agnolo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Niko D’agnolo

Hi Niko, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Like most artists, I spent the majority of my time throughout middle school and high school neglecting my school work in favor of drawing in my sketchbook. Much of that time was dedicated to studying various styles of tattoos and street art, which became the foundation for my artistic identity moving forward. However, after high school, I struggled to define myself and find my voice. In an effort to remedy the issue, I created and shared art under various anonymous accounts/identities that focused on different aspects of my artistic interests. None of those accounts really went anywhere, but I was able to get an idea of what I want my artistic identity to be and I decided that I would enroll in university in an effort to seek out the guidance of professional artists. I was fortunate enough to receive guidance from a handful of incredible artists who helped guide me through my path of artistic exploration. Since then I’ve been working on developing an artistic persona that will act as the identity that I release work under.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been quite the opposite of a smooth road thus far. However, I am grateful for the obstacles that I’ve had to confront along the way. Without many of the issues I’ve had to face, I don’t think I’d be in the creative position that I find myself in now. The obstacle I struggled with most was simply getting out of my own way. For much of my time as an artist, I was plagued by a crippling fear of imperfection. I let much of my own daily insecurities bleed into my artistic sense of self and made little effort to change the pattern of self sabotage I was entwined in. Confronting this meant that I had to not only re-analyze my relationship with art, but also my self perception. It became a game of consistently challenging myself to be better, while also learning to offer myself grace when I failed. In a practical sense, this meant pushing myself to explore areas of art that were completely foreign to me and diving head first into the inevitable pool of failure. Little things like reaffirmations when something didn’t pan out as planned acted as the stepping stones that would guide me to my new found love of failure. That newly discovered infatuation with failing has become my most valuable tool and I have the rough road behind me to thank for it. I look forward to the rough road ahead.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a traditional artist primarily focused on oil painting, though much of my background is in color pencil drawings. My style has often times been compared to pop-surrealism, however, I’ve never tried to find a fitting label for my work, as I tend to push my style to evolve further with every piece. In terms of subject matter, much of my work that remains publicly visible has no particular subject. Up until recently developing the Niko D’Agnolo (or YFND) persona, my work has been primarily centered around aesthetic exploration. However, thanks to finally settling into “my style” and creating the YFND persona, I’ve shifted gears and am focused on a particular subject matter. I am currently developing what I consider to be my “debut” pieces, which without giving too much away, will be principally focused on my queerness and introducing myself to the world.

While I consider myself to be entering a new chapter in my artistic journey, my previous work has still lived a life of its own already. The aforementioned “aesthetic exploration” pieces gained a small level of notoriety for their “dreamy concepts”. I’m very grateful for the love that those pieces have received, but I’m much more excited and proud of the new works I’ve been developing. I look forward to finally being able to share my new works.

As for what sets me apart from others, I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it. My foundational goal for my art is to be a genuine extension of myself and I think aiming to be unique for the sake of uniqueness will quickly corrupt that goal. There’s many people who may be making similar color palette or compositional decisions in their art. But even if that’s the case, it would be a disservice to myself to change a design I like just because it may not be perfectly unique. I believe wholeheartedly in creating for oneself without compromise and I’d hope that’s something I share with many others.

What does success mean to you?
It’s an admittedly cliché answer, but in my eyes, success entails doing what you love without compromise. Occasionally I’ll be scrolling Instagram and come across someone showing off something they created and the comments are just lampooning them for having the gall to share something so “imperfect”. Yet, when I see that person sharing something they spent so much time and energy on, I’m filled with an instantaneous happiness for that person because they just won. Simply by virtue of being brave enough to make something AND share it to the world, that person has achieved a level of success many people can only dream about.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niko.dagnolo/