Heather and Arizona O’Neill | Artists from mother to daughter

They often pass for sisters and have no secrets from each other. Montreal writer Heather O’Neill and her daughter Arizona O’Neill, who each launched a book this fall, are connected through art…and much more.

“I’m a huge fan of Heather’s books. And if I wasn’t his daughter, I would still be a fan. Mother and daughter sit at the table in Heather O’Neill’s Outremont apartment, who watches Arizona intently as she speaks. ” Oh yes ? wow! »

The pride is mutual: Heather likes to tell how, as a child, Arizona, which she had at only 20 years old, always carried out the art projects she proposed to her while she wrote in cafes or libraries.

“She was very good at drawing, she had this concentration…”

Arizona, who is 28 today, studied cinema and has just published a very fine collection of interviews, Can an artist be happy?, in comic book form. This is her first book with “just her name” on the cover, as her mother has published several novels, essays and short stories since 2006 – Losing the mind being his newest – and garnering honors for 15 years.

“If I make art, it’s thanks to her,” says Arizona, who has always seen her mother write. When I was young, I didn’t even know that there were other kinds of careers, that you could be anything other than an artist! »

For almost an hour, the discussion will go off and on between the mother and the daughter who are practically neighbors and who see each other every day.

We discuss Arizona’s atypical childhood, with a very young mother who did not resemble those of the others. But also how Heather wanted her daughter to be well despite the many “tumultuous events” that rocked her life. “I gave the spirit that it was an adventure. »

They tell how much they like to gossip and analyze the life of the Kardashians as much as discuss work. Each is the first reader of the other; Arizona even edits Heather’s essays, as she consulted with her mother throughout the process of compiling her.

For Arizona, Losing the mind is “the best book” by Heather O’Neill. “But I think every time she puts out a book it’s my favorite!” It’s really nice to see the characters on the page. She talks to me about it so much before. For me, they really exist. »

The two protagonists of Losing the mind, Sadie and Marie, are therefore in the apartment with them. “And they judge us, that’s for sure! Baby is there too, heroine of Heather O’Neill’s first novel, Baby’s balladwhich changed their lives as it gave the writer success and freedom.

“I associate each character in his novels with a moment in our lives. »

Feminine

Translated by Dominique Fortier, Losing the mind was released this fall, just six months after the original English release. It’s the first time the delay has been so short, and the Montreal-born author is very happy that the two versions “live in the same world”. They are also found on end-of-year lists and awards in both official languages!

“We grew up in Montreal, our life is truly bilingual,” adds Arizona, who has written her own book in French and interviewed several artists associated with Francophone culture. “I wanted to show a diversity of art forms, artists, ages…”

We also find in his drawings all kinds of Montreal places, alleys, churches. And Losing the mind, a hyper-contemporary “historical” novel in its subject and form, takes place in a spooky Victorian Montreal. His particuliarity ? In addition to Sadie and Marie and their intense and toxic friendship, the heroines are all women: even the revolution is led by young girls.

“I wondered if it would work if there were no men, no romantic relationship, no tension…”, confides Heather O’Neill. “But there are! »

“Sexual tension even!” adds Arizona, who also carries with her a very feminine universe.

“I really like this aspect of Arizona’s job. She has another worldly intelligence with female symbols. A bit like Virginia Woolf, she does this with her drawings. »

Where is happiness ?

The question of happiness, which is at the heart of Arizona’s work, lives in them both. But can an artist be happy, as she asks in her book? His mother thinks not: “I think artists are looking for something else… It’s like a drug, but it’s very hard to get. But it’s precisely because she observed Heather a lot that Arizona wanted to ask them this question.

But after talking with Hubert Lenoir, Klô Pelgag, Julie Doucet and other Daphne B, she especially realized that the answer “was not so simple”, that you have to make peace with your past to make “good art” in the present, and that happiness all the time… “it doesn’t exist, for anyone”.

But she’s an artist too, right? “It’s hard to analyze what we do… It’s easier to analyze my mother than me!” »

“Oh! yes, but when you were little, I already saw that you were an artist…”

Do they still have a secret garden for each other? “I’m sure no one knows you better than me,” Arizona says, adding that she has no secrets from her mother.

“I would say no. I have plenty of secrets. Are you sometimes surprised by reading me? »

” Never. Arizona turns to us. “I think I know her better than she thinks. Heather nods. ” Probably. I think I’m a big mystery…but I’m not. »

Guide

In addition to supporting each other, the two women love working together. They have a common Instagram page, oneillreads, and often share the stage at literary events. “Arizona is much more comfortable than me at his age. Me, I was frozen, I had no direction…”

She kind of paved the way for him, Arizona believes. “Our lives, the way we grew up, are different. I’m lucky to have a successful artist to show me how. »

Heather O’Neill also warned her daughter a lot about the dangers that awaited her with men of power. “When I arrived at university, I was ready to defend myself! She really showed me how to be a woman in this world. But for the rest, she lets her find her own way.

“You have to let the artists do their thing. »