Tanja McMillan, a.k.a Misery, is an Australian born painter, sculptor, photographer and mural artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Her creative reach is extensive, ranging from highly crafted fine art paintings and wall art to animation and fashion.

Tanja’s work, under the name Misery, graces streets and galleries in Aotearoa NZ and around the world. She has exhibited in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Melbourne, Taiwan, Berlin, Los Angeles, California, New York, Hawai'i and Paris and has collaborated with New Zealand and international designers and brands such as Blunt, Casio Baby-G, Telecom, Serato and Anna Sui of New York.

In this episode we hear about how Tanja entered the graffiti world as a teenager, how she connected with her grafitti crew TMD and how her artist name Misery came about. Tanja talks about her collaborations with brands and gives some great advice on how to get yourself out there, share ideas and show the world what you do. 

Tanja dives deep into Miseryland. She shares how the characters and worlds she creates develop and what (or who) they represent and why she often personifies plants and objects in her work. She tells a wonderful story about the making of and responses to her 2 bronze sculptures in Karangahape Road. We chat about how deadlines work for her, a week in the life of Misery and how she juggles motherhood and her creative brain.  https://www.instagram.com/miseryland/

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