Ohni: "I was doing fashiony horoscope illustrations—it was a post-breakup project that I threw myself into."

You've probably seen Ohni Lisle's work before. Her airbrush marker illustrations have appeared on the side of shaving kits, inside the Williamsburg Apple store, and even as a wallpaper in your Instagram group chat. The Brooklyn resident by way of Houston talks to us about her journey into illustration, her getting-ready routine, and what she likes about being from different communities.

Ohni also created the cover art for That's Mother and chatted with us in more depth on the pod.

✩ What borough are you in, and what tethers you to your neighborhood?

I'm in Crown Heights in Brooklyn. I moved to Sunset Park in 2009 from Texas because I had a friend that was moving out of her apartment, and Brooklyn seemed to be where hipster kids would go. The scene at that time was a lot of shows and my tribe of people that I had from Texas were there, so I had kind of like a built-in friend group in the area. And then this borough kind of became my borough.

✩ If you were one of the train lines, which one would you be and why?

I technically live off the A-C-E. I’ve also lived off of the J-M-Z, which is more of a vibe, obviously, because it's above ground and you can just be on your phone. I feel like I'm kind of spacey, so maybe the J-M-Z.

✩ What’s your bodega deli order?

I just do a deli black coffee because I’m too lazy to make coffee. And lately—it’s, like, really gross—I’ve been getting the Jamaican beef patties. That's like my shit; it's just kind of like a savory moment. I can’t really fuck with sweet in the morning. But I used to get everything bagels with butter all the time.

✩ How would you describe the artistic work that you do, and how did you get into it?

When Instagram was popping off as a place to share things in 2013, I was doing fashiony horoscope illustrations—it was a post-breakup project that I threw myself into. A year later, one of the co-owners of Refinery29 took a liking to me and brought me into their office, which led to me doing their horoscope calendar, and then more gigs. Eventually, I had enough money to quit my day job, and I went full-time into freelance illustration. In 2018, I got my first major gigs while I started my transition.

Then, it was even more of the optics for gigs of [corporations pretty much saying] ‘Look at our tranny,’ like, ‘We’re amazing,’ and honestly it was really cute to not have to worry about work as I was in this interim phase. And 2020 through today, I’ve been getting the most high profile gigs, like Apple. Essentially, my work has sort of been intertwined with my gigs, which has been sort of intertwined with me transitioning.

✩ What is your cultural background, and how does it shape your art, if at all?

It’s impossible to say it hasn’t, but if anything, I feel like I get fueled by New York City, or more areas that aren’t just cultural voids like the suburbs, which I’m from. There are cool pockets of Houston, but I don’t feel informed by Houston.

✩ What’s your relationship to hustling? How do you not get lost?

Damn, I feel like everyone’s kind of wondering that! I don't know, I just try to make each day count, as far as working on something, be it myself or a project. But I guess it's hard not to.

✩ New York City is such a transient transplant town where people come from all over the world, but what’s your relationship to America overall?

My dad is Canadian and my mom is American, and they met in grad school. I was born in Calgary and then was thrown into Houston at age seven, which is the South and has a lot of bravado. Initially, I didn’t identify with its conservative, normie, blonde area, but now I have an attachment to the South by way of forced means. I'm also starting to see more and more that America is psycho and rabid and frothing at the mouth.

✩ The city can be considered a “doll’s paradise,” where not only trans femmes can thrive in their personhood, but also in term of career, from fashion, to modeling, nightlife, etc. How true has that notion been for you, in your experience of working in the City?

I feel like we’re treated well because you can go somewhere and be like, ‘Can someone help me with this?’ and be taken care of. Obviously there’s community in other places and I don't know what that’s like, but it just seems that there's more of a yellow brick road here. There are pitfalls everywhere, but I do feel like the city is good.

✩ What’s your ideal get-ready routine for a night out?

I always shower to get a lot of hot water in my face and, you know, “activate” the face. I love doing my makeup, and it’s very rarely that I feel inconvenienced, so it's really fun for me. I think because there were so many years where I wanted makeup. I love getting into the fantasy, so maybe prior or halfway through a joint will become involved—I just want to start out sober. Music-wise, I actually finally just got into Chase Icon. I really liked the new Flo Milli. I also am really loving Pelada, who have an EDM influence, like, punkish political jams. Either way, I’m sort of like a songs-playlist girl, everywhere from dance music to R&B.

✩ How do you go about finding community?

There's this book I had to read in middle school called “The Light in the Forest,” which was about a white boy raised by a Native American tribe, only to be returned to his white relatives; he was torn between these two worlds, and I feel like that’s the allegory I feel, because I have groups of cis friends and groups of gay friends. I have a bunch of friends in different little groups and then I have my core core best friends. I like having a couple of best friends and scenes that you can slip in and out of.