Meet Porto-based artist, Neimy Kanani

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hello! I am a freelance artist who enjoys drawing pretty dreams but with a sprinkle of nightmare in my art pieces. My parents are both from Japan and I speak Japanese at home. I was born in California so I guess I am a Japanese-American artist living in Portugal 🙂 I’ve been drawing since I was three years old so art has been a part of my whole life! I am a very introverted quiet person, even my fashion professor in Florence once called me “so quiet like a little buddha!” as she patted my head haha. My favorite aesthetics are related to Alice in Wonderland, Rococo, surrealism, European fairy tales, nostalgia, dolls, and childhood nightmares.

Describe the city you’re living in and what it’s like to live there.

I recently moved out of San Jose, California to Porto, Portugal. I was very bored living in San Jose because there was nothing really to be inspired by in the city. Silicon Valley is well-known for high technology and innovations such as the creation of Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I felt I was the most artistic person there. I was also afraid of going out to walk with all the Asian-hate going on nearby in San Jose. There was a neighbor who warned us that she was held at gunpoint by two large men asking for her money when she was about to leave her garage and that terrified me.

Porto is a beautiful city and the people there are kind. It is well known that the streets in Portugal are very safe. I am happy that I am able to walk without being alarmed all the time and go to places without having to drive a car. What I enjoy most is being able to visit the churches in the city.

Porto is a beautiful city and the people there are kind. It is well known that the streets in Portugal are very safe. I am happy that I am able to walk without being alarmed all the time and go to places without having to drive a car. What I enjoy most is being able to visit the churches in the city.

What is the best and worst thing about living in your city?

The best thing about living in Porto is that the architecture is inspiring to look at and everything is within walking distance! I guess the negative would be not having many vegan options but I am slowly finding more as I explore.

Give us 3 words that describe what it’s like to be a creative in your city.

San Jose: Hustle, Technology, Diverse

Porto: Historical, Fairytale, Colorful

How did you start your career in art?

I started to post my artwork on Deviantart, Tumblr, and Instagram around my Sophomore year. I put a lot of my time growing my Instagram because I believed that the only way artists can gain jobs was from posting online. My art career started when I was gradually gaining more opportunities through emails and I feel that it is all thanks to social media which I have been building since high school. New exciting projects just keep growing and it makes me excited that I am able to do what I enjoy.

My art career started when I was gradually gaining more opportunities through emails and I feel that it is all thanks to social media which I have been building since high school. New exciting projects just keep growing and it makes me excited that I am able to do what I enjoy.

Were the people around you supportive of your decision on working as a creative?

Everyone was super supportive, especially my mother. She believed in what life had to offer me and let me have my own choices. I always struggled with catching up to my peers at school that I had to be put into a special education class because of my learning disability and had a hard time expressing what I wanted to say, especially with my quiet and shy personality. My mother hoped that I would be able to live off of teaching art, but she didn’t expect that I would love art this much haha.

What are some goals and ambitions you have for your future work?

I hope to be able to do a gallery show and keep building my own world that people can enjoy.

I hope to be able to do a gallery show and keep building my own world that people can enjoy.

If you could collaborate with any person in the world who would it be?

It would be amazing if I would be able to collaborate with Melanie Martinez because I absolutely love her as an artist. I hope my art will be an inspiration for creating something bigger and that people will recognize my art in other forms.

What are the biggest challenges you face in working as a creative?

My struggle right now is trying to find when is the best time to take breaks from work and take care of myself. I feel like art college has made me into a working machine that my brain automatically believes that I am not being productive enough.

How would you describe the women around you?

The women I find inspiring are those who focus on their own work and passion and there were many women like this! But to be honest, the women I was surrounded by were a bit mean and selfish when I was growing up. A lot of them try to tear down one another for themselves to reach higher to the top from jealousy. Even the grown-ups would never stop. This made me realize early on that children and adults have similar minds so I never wanted to become like them and always reminded myself to be the best version of me. I see them as wanting to be validated and to belong to a group. I am a type of person who is fine being alone, so I do not understand the benefit of what they do. I am also the odd one out in groups and I have a hard time getting along with people so I only have a few friends I trust throughout my life.

Were there any local female creatives that you looked up to when you were growing up?

Not really. I feel like I looked up to the female artists in social media the most. Just seeing them be able to do what they enjoy and being able to see myself in their position was exciting to me.

I always have been surrounding myself with Disney and Ghibli movies and I have been in my own world since when I was little. I always admired the classical Disney Princess. As I grew older, I focused on creating my art. I always had a hard time getting along with others but that didn’t really matter to me.

Be confident with your own work and know your worth. You can be surprised how much people appreciate and respect art.

Do you have any advice for other women who are aspiring to work in your field?

Be confident with your own work and know your worth. You can be surprised how much people appreciate and respect art.

What type of music do you like to listen to?

I noticed I enjoy listening to classical music with Harpsichord instruments that sounds whimsical, a lot of movie and game soundtracks that sound like being in an eerie dream, and lo-fi type music with natural and vintage sound effects mixed into them. It helps me be focused on being creative!

What’s your favorite local food spot?

Anything vegan! I’ve been enjoying drinking coffee and picking up bread in nearby cafes in Porto.

Lisa Kogawa asks: What are your top 10 movies/books/comic/anime that motivate you?

I feel like games help me be more motivated, such as Pocket Mirror, Little Nightmares, Night in the Woods, Undertale, Fran Bow, and Alice Madness Returns.

However, to answer the question, it would be Alice by Jan Švankmajer, Coraline by Laika, Disney’s Frozen, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Disney’s Silly Symphony, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians, Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky, and classical paintings, children and artist’s books. I enjoy anything aesthetically detailed and fairytale-like fantasy related! I’ve been recently listing some European old surreal fantasy movies to watch and they are inspiring for my type of work!

Chubbynida asks: What is your purpose of being an artist or illustrator?

Sharing my own view and experience of the world and hope that it will find people who will feel a connection to it. A sort of escapism and giving a sense of nostalgia. Helping people appreciate the little things in life and showing details they never noticed.

What question would you like us to ask the next artist?

What is something that you learned that helped you throughout your art career?

Photos courtesy of Neimy Kanani