NY-based illustrator Grace Miceli's art lens work through comics, doodles, drawings, and books. You can recognize her style from her infused cartoon-like art. Our connection with Grace goes back to 2015 when she was visiting Taiwan for her exhibition. Her life-inspired drawings have always reflected her inner world. Grace is definitely not new to the art world, she joined social media in the early beginning as Art Baby Girl, and after building up Art Baby Girl for a few years, Grace started to explore her life outside of the internet. She went from being a night owl to a morning person. Grace embraces herself on a softer path.

We're connected with Grace through the Ocean Day collaboration. From her sensitive and detailed comics, we got to view nature from another perspective. We chatted with her and her special guest-Tony sitting next to her, who is also her lovely pet.

My name is Grace Miceli. I am an artist, an author, and I mostly do illustrations and comics. Most of my work is personal and I like to mix humor and emotions so it has a balance. I also do a lot of commercial work and my book just came out last year!

I think these days, Art Baby Girl is more like a brand to me. I’ve tried to separate myself from it a little, only because in the last few years, I’ve been working on balance and boundaries. Nowadays, if I had introduced myself as Art Baby Girl, there wouldn’t be enough space for “Grace.” I’ve been exploring between the two identities in the past few years, and Grace is more personal.

My work changes over the years. At the beginning, it was much more fun and light, and more of a decorative style; and was more about the color, the shape, and more about the attitude. And like, being cool as an artist in NY finding myself, and the more I got in touch with myself the more I became deeper. My creative process was spontaneous, but now I write my thoughts down. I have journals and documents on my computer, I let them sink in and progress, and they shape who I am now.

I’m really proud of my book, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I had 6 months to complete this big collection of my work. I got to be myself and be really honest with it, and it gave me so much freedom. It was the first time I could just focus on one project.

I want people to feel related. If you were scrolling on your phone, and you came across my work. I hope my work could put a smile on your face or light up your day. My favorite kind of art says something or shows something you’ve always known but never said before. You resonate with the art, and the moments are really magical. I want to inspire people in their everyday life; to inspire them to think about their feelings a little more and to feel connected and less alone.

I used to be a night owl. The first 5 years as an artist I had a random schedule and it didn’t go so well. At the end of the day, it’s a job as an artist, and managing yourself takes time. Over the last few years I’ve become someone who goes to bed early; no more parties, I write journals, do yoga, and have a real schedule now. I even tried to spare time for a fun drawing time. I’ve learned to take days off and just try to be a person and be Grace. I would give this piece of advice to younger artists: ”Hustling wears you out. You need to know the balance between work and life.” I shifted my focus when I was really depressed, and decided to have a structure in life to help me get back on track.

Some big projects are coming soon, and some cool ones that are inspired by Tony! Can’t wait to see it all come together and share with the world. 

Photographer/ @bb.moveobjectss

Texts/ Ruby Li

Model/@artbabygirl