Sloane Tanen is a painter whose work has been exhibited in a number of shows that can be found in private and corporate collections in Manhattan, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and holds graduate degrees in literary theory from NYU and in art history from Columbia University. Sloane lives with her husband in New York City. Here she tells us more about the inspiration behind those irrepressible chicks...
'It’s amazing how much emotion can be projected on to a pile of chenille, two beads and some pipe cleaner...'
Let’s start at the beginning — where did you get the idea of putting together the chick dioramas and how did it become such a fascination?
I am a painter and had built a series of miniature rooms to use as models to paint from. Once I had finished the series, the models were laying around in my studio. One of them was a replica of a hotel lobby.
My friend Faye, who is a personal shopper, had told me a story about meeting some elderly southern clients in the lobby of The Beekman Hotel. When she arrived to meet them, she was surprised to find that the client was about 80 years old and her mother was about 98. They could barely walk but there they were, waiting for Faye in the lobby, surrounded by shopping bags and ready to hit Barneys. I liked the story so I decided to recreate the scene using my model and to make it Faye’s birthday gift. I tried using dolls but they looked terrifying. So, I substituted them with yellow chicks, (it was Easter and they were everywhere), and it was a Eureka moment. The scene lit up. Those chickens have a sort of blankness that allows almost any emotion to be projected on them. They will take on anger, happiness, sadness, envy. It’s amazing how much emotion can be projected on to a pile of chenille, two beads and some pipe cleaner. Anyway, my friend loved the gift and I actually received requests to do others from people who saw it in her office. That was the beginning.
How long does it take to put the scenes together? And how do you do it?
The time it takes to create each scene varies depending on the amount of props required, if the props have to be made or can be bought, (dollhouse stores, Ebay, flea markets) or whether the scene has to be built or just arranged.
Creating the boxes or dioramas is actually less time consuming than setting up a scene to photograph for the books. The ‘sets’ are larger and have to be perfect. Often just getting the lighting right can take the photographer, Stefan, up to an hour. They are like little movie sets…very detailed and obsessively thought-through.
Can you tell us a little about your background?
As I said, I’m a painter but I studied both literature and art-history in different graduate programs here in New York. I’ve always done my art but I thought I might like being a professor. I was wrong.
Who are your favourite artists or photographers, and why? And which artists — or indeed writers - do you feel have influenced your work the most?
In reference to the books, I think I was influenced by some of my favorite cartoonists rather than visual artists: Chas Addams, Leo Cullum, Gary Larson, George Booth, John Callahan. I also love the perspectives of Larry David, Anthony Trollope and my sister. Even my husband, on rare occasions (who is a writer and gave this Q&A a quick once over for me before I sent it in, editing in this line in the process). I like humour that illustrates how inane the every day things we do can be and that serves as a sort of nod to the silliness of our daily habits and nature. I think the best humorists tap into that collective place where we can’t help but recognize a certain behavior as true. I try to do that. Sometimes it works better than others.
Where do you get the inspiration for the characters in your chick dioramas? And have any of your friends or family recognised themselves in Bitter With Baggage?
From the media, friends and family…and myself of course. I am always amazed when other people respond to some seemingly very personal experience. For example, before I was married I would get dressed up to go see my therapist who I had a crush on. I know that transference isn’t so unusual, but this was just a crush and I was really upset that my therapist never asked me out. I mean, how stupid, right? But the therapy chicken in Bitter got a lot of response. Obviously I wasn’t alone in feeling that therapeutic professionalism was getting in the way of my social life. For me this was surprising as I was pretty sure I was alone in that feeling. 
Tell us more about your second book for adults, Going for the Bronze. It seems to be much more satirical and political. Have you become more interested in tackling edgy subjects in your work?
I think I was in a slightly darker place when I was writing Bronze. I don’t think of the book as ‘political’ in any way, but with so much going on in the world, I was drawn a bit more to the underbelly than the surface. Looking at it now, I can see how it might be considered darker. While I worry this may disappoint some of the people that liked the more chick-litty tone of Bitter, I really feel that one can only produce work that is coming from an honest place. Forced humor doesn’t work so all you can do is go with your gut and hope for the best. That said, Bronze isn’t exactly profound; it just pushes the envelope a bit more.
Many of the chicks’ antics take place in New York City. Is it a city you love and if so, why do you find it so inspiring?
I really do love New York. There is always so much going on. It’s a very inspiring place to live … sometimes a bit crowded and overwhelming, but never dull. There’s a sense of history in the architecture and the art that helps keep things in perspective. What I like best about the city is the pedestrian culture. I come from L.A. where people live in their cars and you can’t really see people unless you’re sitting at a traffic light waiting for the light to change. I like that everyone is forced to deal with one another here; I like watching people walk and interact. I like all the young people, the old people, the babies, the dogs. I like that the city changes so much but is always fundamentally the same.
What’s next for you for and Coco? Is there another book in the pipeline?
We have another book, Coco All Year Round, coming out some time next year. After that, I don’t know.
Finally — how do you like your eggs?
Scrambled.