Today we’d like to introduce you to Nysa Hicks Puig.
Hi Nysa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been making art ever since I was a little girl. It was always for fun growing up; a way to give life to my imagination. In high school I started taking it more seriously, packing AP drawing, photography and ceramics classes into every semester. Even in college, I took studio drawing classes as electives as I pursued a degree in international business and French from Clemson University. After college, making art ebbed and flowed in and out of my life. Sometimes a few years would pass without making anything, and sometimes I’d experiment with sowing a dress or painting with wine or building a piece of furniture for my apartment.
In 2017 I was in a period of my life where I wasn’t making art at all when I got a call asking if I wanted to paint a mural in Puerto Rico, where my family is from. It was something that, at the time, I thought would be a one-time thing, not knowing that I’d fall in love with it. Ever since then, I set my sights on painting more murals and one day pursuing my artwork full time. I started getting calls from friends saying that they heard someone needing a mural or asking if I commissioned paintings. I’d paint on the weekends, after work, or take time off from my job to paint a mural. Slowly but surely, more projects and opportunities started coming in and six years later, in the spring of 2023, I took the leap and launched Nysa Creative full time. I now produce murals, hand painted signage, and original & commissioned paintings in the Southeast and Puerto Rico.
If you’re local to Charleston, SC, you can see my work at Redux, O-Ku, The Pass, Seahorse, Pelato, Paradiso, Verde Park Circle, Lowcountry Local First, and more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has definitely not been smooth, but it’s been rewarding, even if in the moment it didn’t feel that way. I could write an entire book answering this question with examples of struggles and challenges that I’ve encountered over the course of this adventure, so I’ll just say this- having a support system outside of myself, in addition to my internal determination, has been essential. Challenges, obstacles, surprises and disappointments are unavoidable, so having people close to me that help put things into perspective has been the difference between giving up and living my dream. And support doesn’t always mean telling me what I want to hear. Sometimes support comes in the form of helping me to see something in a different way or challenging me to grow by showing where those opportunities lie or asking uncomfortable questions that make me really think about how I want to move forward. Now don’t get me wrong, the cheerleaders and hype bringers I hope never quite, and having people around me to celebrate even the smallest of wins has been the best part of this for me, but the balance is what has allowed me to preserver.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have two main branches of my work.
The first is the engine behind my business, Nysa Creative, where I produce hand painted murals and signage for clients. I work mostly with restaurants, businesses, architects, and homeowners to paint everything from murals of flowers or nature to brand logos and everything in between. This kind of artwork can take many different forms and styles and is driven by a shared vision with whomever it is that I’m working with. My greatest goal is to bring the intangible to life through asking a lot of questions and tying a room or a space together with the art that’s incorporated. No two projects are the same and no two murals are the same. Getting to use my creativity in community with others is exciting and challenging and a ton of fun. Especially once you get to see the idea that sparked in your head now spanning across a wall or the side of a building.
The second is where I produce original and commissioned paintings and drawings on mostly canvas, wood panel, or paper. This branch of my art allows for me to express and explore the bounds of my personal creativity, letting my intuition be the guide. It’s a very internal process for me. Reflective. Therapeutic. I recently participated in Redux Contemporary Art Center’s Lightning Residency program where I produced seven painting on a combination of raw canvas and burlap that are now on display through August 9th. All of the pieces for this show, called Speaking in Color, were hand stretched and painting during the 6-week residency program. The colorful, abstract, dreamscapes use a combination of acrylic, pastel and powdered pigment on the raw fabrics. I have a style that is different from what you often see. I like to incorporate the surface into the final composition of the piece, where negative space leaves the raw fabric exposed. It’s a part of the story for me and what makes the finished product feel warmer, more organic, and inviting. Everyone experiences the works differently, and sees something unique in the forms. That’s what makes it so amazing to me. What it represents for me, is not necessarily what is felt or seen for someone else.
The best place to follow along is Instagram @NysaCreative or my newsletter, The Rotation, which you can sign up for on NysaCreative.com. I’m currently accepting projects and commissions for Fall/Winter 2025.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I was lucky enough to meet Michelle Zauner, the musician behind Japanese Breakfast and the author of Crying in H Mart, right when I was leaving my 9-5 job to launch Nysa Creative. She gave me advice that I keep going back to whenever the doubt seeps in. I won’t be able to quote her exactly, but she said something along the lines of: work so hard at your craft that you don’t have any other option but to succeed. I took that advice and ran with it. So I’d love to pass that along to anyone just starting out, or even if you’re like me- 8 years in and you still feel like you’re just starting out. Study your craft, explore it, prefect it, produce work, keep going, produce more work, explore a new technique, put yourself out there, keep going, learn more, produce more work, and so on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nysacreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nysacreative/
