With a focus on the everyday—particularly in relation to the construction of one’s identity—Noddy approaches her craft with great tact (and a much needed sense of humor). We caught up with the NYC- based artist to hear more about her creative process, and how her transnational background has informed this approach.

“I sometimes have difficulty being present in a moment, or truly appreciating the energy that is being materialized in front of me,” she says. “[But] I think curiosity is one of the few things that can make you excited about being alive, and acknowledging that you are.”

What’s your creative process like?
It typically stems from being homesick, feeling a dissociation from the US and the things around me. It’s really therapeutic for me, as the process usually involves going back into my archives to find material that reminds me of all of the emotions that come with feeling both comfortable and detached. Finding these things, whether it be a Hong Kong five dollar coin, or a photo of the markets near where I grew up, always reminds me of the sounds, the smells, the energy of home. I like to see my work as an energy, a feeling, put into action.

To what extent is this informed by your geography, Hong Kong (where you’re from) and New York (where you’re currently based)?Hong Kong is an amazing place filled with amazing, strong, funny, and charismatic people. I do think the “everyday” in Hong Kong as opposed to the “everyday” in New York is completely different, despite the cities’ structural similarities. There are moments where I’m sitting on the bus and I think of the minibus back in Hong Kong, the smell of cigarettes in cabs, my old view on my commute to school. I think it’s this constant reminder of a past world, my old normal, that I’m trying to hold onto and not forget. This really inspires me to put these fragments of the old everyday into something more tangible.

I think there is also a comfort in that if Hong Kong truly loses its autonomy, its freedom, to China, I’ll have these videos and fragments to remind me.

Can you speak a bit to your film, iPhone 1?
I shot most of it while I was really sad in New York. I think I was trying to grapple with finding the beauty of the everyday, while also feeling completely dissociated within it. There were these moments, though, that reminded me that I was there—in the Big Apple, “the city that never sleeps”. Going to the playground really reminded me that I was alive. There is something about children that feels so pure and unmediated, it’s really soothing. I tried to capture that in the film.

I sometimes have difficulty being present in a moment, or truly appreciating the energy that is being materialized in front of me. I think this film made me come to terms with how funny New York can be as a city, how charismatic it is. From the pigeon guy in Washington Square Park to my 60-year-old friend Henry I met at Prospect Park, these were all energies I wanted to capture.

What type of subjects do you usually seek out? Why do you think you’re so drawn to capturing the everyday?
People doing their thing, people engaged intimately with the mundane—there is something so beautiful about that. My dad always says, “You don’t only live once...you live everyday!” I try to implement that into how I view my life and my work. Everyone is living everyday!

What role do you think Hong Kong identity plays in relation to current tensions with China?
I think it’s tough for me to speak on that as someone with the privilege of being in the US physically (at least, removed from the fight for independence in Hong Kong). Identity has always been an interesting subject in Hong Kong in relation to China and the UK. When I was younger I used to think it was beautiful the way Hong Kong fused these British and Chinese influences into creating its own culture, its own thought. I still think it is, but of course this thought has been more and more risky, more and more silenced. In this though, from what I hear from my dad, I think the Hong Kong identity remains strong. I am so proud to be a Hong Kong-er.

Were you always drawn to film? I know you’re dad’s a pretty well established filmmaker.
I’ve always been a visual person. I don’t really know if it’s him being a filmmaker that has really influenced me, but more so the way he thinks. He is the smartest person I’ve ever met. He is a 60 year old man with the curiosity of a 10 year old child. He is constantly noticing new things, nuances, in the landscapes we cross. Growing up, going anywhere with him was hard because he’d find 50,000 things to take pictures of on the street—trash bags he thought were pretty, scaffolding that was half fallen, dogs waiting for their parents. This is the curiosity that inspires my work. I think curiosity is one of the few things that can make you excited about being alive, and acknowledging that you are.

What are your hopes for this year? Any projects coming up?
Yes! I currently work at Radical Media; I’m working on a project there that is super inspiring and important. Very excited for it to come out, I'm not sure if I can legally say any more on it though.

BUT, my boyfriend/creative partner and I just shot some footage in Hong Kong, and are hoping to have a new project out by this summer. It’ll be more experimental; we’ll be mixing all the VFX’s and music independently. Stay tuned...