Niz is an artist that promotes humanitarian concerns, social and personal awareness, and spirituality through artistic expression. She has been creating art on everything from skateboards to clothing since she was 14 years old, In attempts to communicate existential, psychosocial and transcendendental themes to a larger audience.

Eleanor Herasimchuk has been creating linocuts, screenprints, and drawings with heavy religious, existential and psychological content and a punk rock/hip-hop urban edge since she was 14.

She was born in Lima, Peru in 1975, where she began creating art at the age of 7. Her Mom was an artist and her dad a philosopher, both having a huge impact on her work. She moved to California from Peru at the age of 12 and has lived in the US since then. By the end of high school, she was creating psychospiritual work that recieved recognition in several high school publications, zines, and local coffee shops. At that time, it didnt interest her to go mainstream with her art, so she kept it confined to underground zines and local fliers.   

At 17, she was just as interested in the human psyche, mythology, and philosophy as she was in art. She went to several different colleges from California to Madrid, before she eventually decided on a degree in psychology. While she was a junior in college, her Dad committed suicide, which profoundly affected her life and artistic expression. It was after this event and traveling around the world, that her work became more and more centered in human suffering, self knowledge, grief, meditation, and the psychology of dreams & metaphors. It was also during this period that her work became more dark, often expressing themes of angst and desperation.

   Following her Father’s death, she worked in dream research, and eventually wound up as an HIV prevention educator at a needle exchange program in Santa Cruz. It wasn’t long before she used her talent for the purpose of social activism, drug education and HIV prevention by creating colorful and original fliers, zines, and educational postcards for various groups of at risk teens. Her public health media from this time was very influenced by pop art, old comics, propaganda, the perils of good advertising, and pulp fiction novel art.

   For several years, Niz struggled with problems of addiction and social isolation, which are to this day, prominent themes in her work, specially her blockprints and photographs. In the beginning of the year 2003, she moved to Florida to get clean. During her first 3 months in Florida her Mom passed away from cancer. Towards the end of 2003, she met up with a collective of socially and spiritually conscious musicians known asLucid Musik, and began creating artwork, CD covers, fliers, and murals for them that had a positive, lively, spiritual edge.

   Her style has shifted recently, becoming more hope-oriented and hip hop influenced, yet she always retains a classical, oldschool, almost Biblical edge, “I believe it is important for people to understand that in this existence there are many realms of happiness and suffering…and that they are entwined. It is difficult for me to create a piece without including the pain I have been through. What you may find though, is that because I have looked deep into my pain, my pieces will contain metaphors and stories that may shed light on each particular experience”.

   She currently resides in South Florida, and is focused on creating acrylic paintings on skateboards and canvas and CD covers and fliers for various underground groups in South Florida. Still passionate about public health art, she looks forward to creating more zines and postcards that carry a positive, informative, holistic and healthy message.

I create conscious, awareness-oriented skateboard art. The graphics are meant to awaken people's interest in understanding different cultures, religions, and human experiences. Skateboards are a non-traditional medium that I find interesting to create art on given their nature: they eventually get destroyed. As an artist, I find creating art on skateboards to be an interesting paradox...most artists create things that are meant to be eternal...to make some kind of physical mark on the world. The idea of skateboard art to me follows a very Buddhist take: you appreciate something and then let it go...there is no attachment to it...much like beautiful things in nature...Although alot of people do not consider skateboards as art pieces, I think they are a very interesting art form...any other shape of wood with a painting on it would be considered an art piece! Skateboards look beautiful hanging up on a wall and I believe they really cause people to question what should be considered art.

The boards all start out as blank planks of Canadian maple wood. I paint them with acrylic paints, and sometimes spraypaint and then touch them up with paint pens.

You don't have to be a skateboarder to own a painting on a skateboard!!!! Dare to have something original up on the wall!!!

Always available for custom graphics...on tha conscious, spiritual, real deal tip...

La Boddisattva...like a beautiful lotus from the depths of the nasty ass muck of a pond, a Boddisattva retains her/his purity amidst all the pollluted, convoluted nastiness that we thrive and survise on in this crazy plane of existence....give it up for her...and for the beautiful elephant that stands strong on four feet...never afraid to dream...this painting represents overcoming all obstacles and unrestrained passion for life no matter what comes your way...dream on it...

La Virgen de Guadalupe...what more can I say...

Live, love, laugh, learn

LET THE SUN SHINE IN...