How long have you been working in this space?
Two and a half years.
Describe an average day in your studio.
I work evenings and nights, after finishing my day job as a pastry chef. I work on one thing at a time until it’s finished.
How does space affect your work?
My studio is at home and my house is a small shared apartment in Brooklyn. It is shaped like a wide hallway, with two windows at the front and one at the back. Everything that affects my home life affects my work. In some areas of Brooklyn, and in shabby apartments in general, there are still water problems; a few months ago, the sealant around the toilet cracked, leaking foul water; later, our upstairs neighbors installed a faulty bidet and water entered through the ceiling; now the shower sealant is cracked and water leaks out every time we use it. In my workshop, I think about water all the time.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
I am very involved in my neighborhood through aspects of my food practice: I have cooked to help raise funds for local community supported agriculture, sold kimchi at a nearby bar, and participated to community markets.
What do you like about your studio?
I mainly work at a desk in my living room; my partner and I bought the desk in pieces on Craigslist from a woman living on Canal Street. It belonged to her father and halfway through finishing she abandoned the project and sold it to us. We have it almost finished, except for the side drawers; it has a huge amount of storage and a built-in shelf and is a great place to sit and sew. Above the desk is a print by Maia Ruth Lee that I won in a raffle, an incredibly special thing. It’s the only raffle I’ve won in my life. On the desk is one of my favorite things: a stone with an eroded hole just big enough to serve as a pen holder.
What do you wish was different?
When I work at night and the window is open, I hear the rats that live in the yard behind ours. When the sun goes down, they move into our yard and all the neighbors’ yards looking for food, playing and hanging out. They can be very noisy; our cat, Eggy, would sit at the window and watch them, wanting so much to hunt; now, two and a half years later, she’s not as interested because they visit her every night.
What is your favorite local museum?
The American Folk Art Museum on the Upper West Side is awesome. Admission is free and it’s one block from Central Park. Their exhibition What this quilt knows about me was one of my favorite shows I saw last year.
What is your favorite art material to work with?
I work a lot with found textiles and I especially like working with them when they are threadbare. Mending is an important part of my embroidery work, and it is especially enjoyable when wear and tear on a textile affects the final product.