A Journey with Creativity and Artistic Expression | Interview by Noelle Barganier, CityHeART Creative Connect Intern (2025-26)
Art from Ashes Magazine celebrates lived experience through a wide variety of storytelling and creative expression. Our platforms include our digital and printed magazine, CityHeART Radio, and the Street HeART community paper. Recently, Noelle from our team sat down with Nathan — a beloved CityHeART team member and incredibly talented creator! Check our this Q/A that features the journey Nathan has navigated with creativity and artistic expression.
Nathan: A little about me…
I creatively go by Nathaniel Alic-Ander, born Nathaniel Smith… But call me Nathan. I was raised in San Francisco and moved to Long Beach in 89, when I was 13. I loved growing up in both cities; they both provided me with diversity and culture. I’m a tactile person who loves to create whether it be my art, cooking, knitting, sewing, or dancing. I love to travel with my best friend and sister (Portia). I’m an autodidact learner so I love teaching myself new things, especially when it comes to hobbies. Like so many I come from a past of dysfunction and trauma, and as a result have been diagnosed with (CPTSD) and the depression and anxiety that subsequently comes along with it. So, my connection with art is more than a hobby, it’s my therapy, my lifeboat, my blade of grass in a concrete jungle mentally and emotionally speaking. That’s why I love being of service at CityHeART. I feel it’s that blade for the community and people they provide for. Being a part of this organization has been rewarding and healing on so many levels. I would like to give appreciation to CityHeART for all that they do, and letting me be a small cog in the machine of their organization and what they do for the community. I would also like to give a huge thanks to Page, Izzy Ida, and Noelle, for asking me to be a part of this project.
I’m currently working on getting a website and social media presence. But I can be followed on Instagram @nathan_s626
Noelle: What got you interested in art in general, more specifically photography and painting?
Nathan: I’ve always felt the visceral need to create and express myself. It started with Play-DOH, drawing on classwork, and drawing on myself. In elementary school we took black and white photographs and developed them ourselves, which was a wonderment that fascinated me to no end. That’s where my love for photography started. I’ve always been drawn to the monochromatic aesthetic of drawing with graphite and black and white photography, so much so I became intimidated by color. I decided to challenge that intimidation by learning a new medium and process by painting in color. That challenge got me going down a rabbit hole and developing a new passion.
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Noelle: What is your process like when starting a painting? And what is your process when taking a picture?
Nathan: Since my creativity is led by my emotions, starting the process of a new drawing/painting is led by a delicate balance of mood and inspiration. Once those two things are playing well together, I can start. On the other hand, the process of photography is much simpler. It’s intuitive, capturing my vantage point in the moment. Taking the pressure off my perfectionism and trusting in my instincts.
Noelle: What gives you the motivation to keep up with art?
Nathan: I have to feed my motivation to keep it generating. Absorbing other people’s art rather it be an art piece, music, a prolific thought, etc. That appreciation feeds my soul and creative chi.
Noelle: Do you have any inspirations for your work? Do you have any artists you enjoy?
Nathan: In the micro, I draw inspiration from the Old Masters of art hints at my fascination with the human form. In the macro, I gather inspiration from many places such as my travels, art shows and museums, music and television , to people watching and nature.
I enjoy the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphel, Salvador Dali, and my all-time favorite Michelangelo! I recently traveled to Spain, France, and Italy and had the opportunity to see some amazing art and architecture along the way. While in Florence I got to see the David statue in person as well as the Sistine Chapel in Rome which was a lifelong dream come to fruition.
Noelle: I noticed in a lot of your work you focus on nature, what is it about depicting nature that is intriguing to you?
Nathan: I love depicting nature in my work because of its inherited never-ending beauty and awe. From above the sky to below the ground it’s inspirational in abundance. I’m a cancer so water has always been my safe haven, so bodies of water and their surroundings have always drawn me in. But mountains, landscapes, animals, and flowers captivate me as well.
Noelle: I also noticed you depict a lot of human figures, what is it about depicting the human figure that is intriguing to you?
Nathan: I’m fascinated by the human figure to say the least, from the beauty of the form to the imperfections. My first drawings were of the body which is probably why I’m drawn to Michealangelo’s works. I believe everyone has been given at least one physical attribute that’s been touched by a master carver. I love identifying that part(s) in a person, I like to say sometime you have to see them with their clothes off to find that hidden gem which is why I think so many artists are drawn to nude and life drawing. I’ve always studied the human form from hair and skin texture, to the curvatures of the nape of a neck, to the small of their back. To the way their body hair pattern grows out and lays, to the way their veins present themselves on their hands and feet. I’m fascinated by all shapes, sizes, skin tones, genders, and ages…all the crayons in the box are unique enough to keep me captivated for a lifetime. I think the biggest reason I like sculpting with clay is because at a certain point as the clay dries out it feels like skin, and when you’re sculpting a human form, there’s a full circle of satisfaction that occurs where the mind’s eye and touch converge. I even find that someone’s best feature can transcend the physical and it can be someone’s energy, their beaming lifeforce. I don’t have a limit, filter, or worthiness of what catches my eye for recognition, because I believe everyone has something and my inerrantist job is to convey it through my interpretation in a piece.
Noelle: What are some of the projects you are working on now?
Nathan: To be honest at the moment I’m having a bit of an artist’s block, so I’m not working on anything new. But I am working on finishing up an oil painting that I’ve been working on, off and on for the last two years. It’s a play on Mother Nature except its Father Nature. It’s a man made up of leaves, vines, and greenery…surrounded by butterflies and gossiping with a snake. I’m also concentrating on photography until I find my next inspiration or muse for a new piece.