Ryan Novelline is a Boston based fashion designer and a fine artist. He is internationally recognized for his Golden Book Gown made out of pages from children's Golden Books. It is true that creativity has no limits and Ryan upholds this truth very well. His creations are creative, adorable and very innovative. He is also called as 'Prince Charming of green designers'. Isn't that amazing?

What intrigues me about his artwork is the variety he brings in his work. Apart from creating brilliant apparels, he also paints and draws and creates graphics too. The thoughts and concept of his projects are commendable and that is what makes his artwork more appealing.

We contacted him for a small interview with us to learn more about his artistic journey. Lets tune in his interview below:

Ryan, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.

Yo E-junkies! I am a fine artist and designer based out of Boston. I have worked as a Disney Imagineer and have also made pieces exclusively for GAP and Harvard University's fashion show, Eleganza. Artistically, my first love has always been for drawing, but we have an open relationship that allows me to experiment with other types of art.

Tell us something about your artwork. What forms of art you follow?

I spend about ninety percent of my time thinking. Fashion, philosophy, news, commercials, sex, movies, weather, politics...whatever interests me at the time, and I pace around for sometimes hours attempting to clarify and draw connections between seemingly unrelated topics. It feels as though I am sculpting a lumpy mesh of information in my mind by slowly whittling away irrelevant thoughts to hopefully arrive at a fully formed idea. When the mental clutter finally settles, my art becomes the ultimate expression of the process and is yet only the tip of the iceberg.

I also work very quickly. By the time I develop an idea enough to pick up a paintbrush or sewing needle, I am already itching to finish the piece, though never at the expense of quality. My choice of medium often grows organically with the idea itself. When my work takes on many varied forms, I suppose that reflects how much is on my mind. Though besides that, I do fancy fine art doll-making and designing couture gowns...for human-sized subjects, I mean.

Your 'Golden Book Gown' is just too creative! How did this idea strike to you? What process did it go through?

My mother and I were sitting in her writing room talking about how children's books have such unfortunately short life spans. Books read at such a young age leave such long-lasting impressions on a person's character, yet the physical books themselves barely last beyond one or two generations of use. The Golden Book series in particular was one that was passed down to me from my mother that heavily influenced my artistic identity. As a small child, I would tuck myself away and in silence passing hours attempting to perfectly replicate characters on printer paper to hang on my bedroom wall. Until I had conversation with my mother about the books, I had not reflected upon the many hours I spent admiring them as a child.

Can the emotional impact of these books endure beyond their initial use? This became my challenge. I was told I could never achieve such volume with paper, but in this case, I was stubborn and ignored arbitrary restrictions. Having said that, constructing the dress was a physically and emotionally exhaustive process unlike any other I have yet experienced as an artist. Creating the dress elapsed nine days around the clock from the newspaper mockup to the final piece.

The gold thread was a true challenge. It is regular cotton thread wrapped into a tiny metal-coil that caught itself in the machine every ten inches or so and needed to be rethreaded about every forty five seconds. The whole ordeal was a massive undertaking that I never analyzed formally until much later. If I did not take the process photos myself, I would not believe I even created it. My body was so numb by the end, but the reactions immediately vindicated the effort. I am overwhelmed.

Another project by you called 'The Seasons In Vogue' looks awesome. What was the inspiration behind choosing 'Dolls' as your subject?

As afraid as I was to admit it for all of my teen years, I loved playing with dolls as a kid. My parents never imposed gender boundaries on my brothers and myself allowing us to discover our own interests, and I owned a handful of Barbies. I mutilated them like any other kid does. One time, in our early years of life, my older brother and I amputated all of the male Barbie legs and stacked them up like kindling wood pretended to make a campfire. Kids. Meanwhile, my Butterfly Barbie stayed far away from this drama on the dresser. She did not, however, escape a terrible haircut possibly worse than a leg amputation.

At the time of this project, I was rediscovering my love of dolls and inspired by the fine art felt dolls of R. John Wright. Thematically, they follow the cycle of the seasons represented as Spring/Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I believe one of the coolest aspects of working with dolls is that, because of their smaller scale, the potential to make them fantastical is greater. For example,Winter carries a deep ocean blue velvet gown that sweeps and swishes like soft waves of the winter sea and trails around her as though she were a goddess. This great volume of true velvet in full-sized gown would be so pricey that it would require a government grant to produce. The eyes are also made of Swarovski crystals, a favorite medium of mine that makes them alluring and fun to pose and interact with. You can find a process photo-documentation of this project as well on my website.

What influences your drawings and paintings?

Even as a painter, I am highly inspired by the designs of the late Alexander McQueen and high fashion culture. He pushed the idea of conceptual fashion to become a fine art and questioned how we interact with clothing and its effects upon us. Above all, I believe his fearlessness with his craft was remarkable. Whether I am painting, sculpting, or sewing, I try to proceed with a similarly daring attitude and not fear the outcome. It's amazing how simple that sounds! There's nothing more frightening to me than beginning a project and not knowing where it may ultimately lead. But this experience makes the art worth making. It's a true thrill. In terms of painting, I try not to sketch out and plan the entire painting and allow my eye to make adjustments as I work the colors into the composition.

 Share one best compliment you've ever received for your work?

A lovely woman emailed me a few weeks ago and said, "Thanks for the last 45 minutes of pure enjoyment I found on your website. It started with a link on the neatorama website which lead to the dress made from the Golden books and lead me to explore all the art, drawings and paper-crafts on your site.  They were GLORIOUS! and you are too." While I have never met this individual, her warm words filled me with an immeasurable satisfaction. The tremendous online response to my work has been so motivating.

Which creation by you is the most memorable one for you?

Up to this point, working on "The Dance of Spring"children's book written by my mother, Lisa Novelline, and illustrated by myself has been the most memorable. She wrote a beautiful story about Mother Earth and the watercolor paintings I created to illustrate it came very naturally. We were able to nurture a joint vision to ultimately publish it. We both feel a lot of pride and gratification for this book, and I do hope others enjoy it as well.

Other than creating art, what are the things that interests you?

As far as hobbies, I swim laps about five times per week to keep my mind and body at peace. Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I just push myself harder in the pool and I am able to clear my head. I am also almost always listening to music. A few of my favorites include Ursula1000, Can 7, Martin Denny, Puscifer, Seal, Avril Lavigne, and Stephane Pompougnac's Hotel Costes series.

What message do you have for our readers?

I preview my projects and show many of the steps as I work on my twitter @rnovelline. If you're interested in upcoming pieces or have any questions about completed ones, please feel free and say that @ejunkie sent you!

Ryan, thanks for sharing your thoughts and story with us. It has been a pleasure to have on E-junkie. All the best!

Check out his website at Ryan Novelline.

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