May Roundup
A whirlwind of the old and the new: launches, Design Week, Brimfield, and more.
May was jam-packed — in a good way. It really felt like the month that everyone was making moves and launching things, and there was inspiration pouring into my life from seemingly every direction. It was one of those months that made me wish I could clone myself so I can do all the things I want to do in this one finite life of mine! Speaking of finitude, I wasn’t able to fit everything I wanted to into this one roundup, but here are a few highlights from the month:
(01) Pop-Up at Steven Alan
I kicked off the month with a pop-up at Steven Alan, one of the stores that carries my pieces here in NYC. Steven and I had been discussing the idea of doing a fine jewelry pop-up ever since he opened his store in October, and I’m glad we could finally make it happen! I brought in friends BRUCE, Casey Perez Jewelry, Jeannie Kim Jewelry, and Studio Bluestone (you might remember them from last year’s Golden Hour pop-up) and it was so fun to spend the day together.
(02) Alex Mill x EV Salon
Alex Mill hosted an EV Salon at Happy Medium to celebrate the launch of their Summer Collection, and as EV Salons always do, it felt like a fun party full of familiar faces and exciting new ones. Each time I go to an EV Salon I’m reminded of just how many incredible individuals I’ve met through
, and I always walk away feeling inspired by someone new I just met. I feel truly lucky to be a part of that community.(03) Salomón Huerta at Harper’s Chelsea
One of the most special moments of my May was getting to meet Salomón Huerta and Ana Morales-Huerta at Salomón’s solo show Stillness, currently on view at Harper’s Chelsea. Salomón and Ana are two of the people I donated funds to through my LA Fire Relief Raffle after they lost their Altadena home in the January wildfires. While Salomón and I had chatted on the phone in the direct aftermath of the fires, we had never met face to face.
When Salomón told me he was coming to NYC and invited me to his exhibition opening, I was immensely touched and excited to finally meet him and his wife, Ana, in person. I don’t know how or why, but somehow it felt like we had already known each other for a long time. I absolutely loved getting to hear about how they’re doing now and getting to meet some of their friends and community.
It was also special, of course, getting to see Salomón’s work in person. The paintings in Stillness were made after and in reaction to the LA fires, and are painfully poignant and beautiful. If you’re based in NY and would like to see them yourself, the show is up until June 21st.
(04) Design Week Highlights
As it turns out about one million things were happening in May, so I kept things simple and only went to one Design Week event, or at least I think I did — I get confused with the organization of all the shows, to be honest. I went to Jonald Dudd (that’s not a typo), curated by Chen + Kai, which I think was actually a show within Shelter Design Fair. I don’t know! All I know is that it was a delicious and inspiring feast for the senses.
Highlights included seeing former studiomate Wooj’s largest lamp to date (makes sense why they moved into a bigger studio space…) and fellow RISD alum KLN Studio exhibiting (I love their stacking ottoman/stools). I also met Thomas Yang, whose work and philosophy resonated with me on a whole other level. It’s always incredibly exciting when you find someone like this and it’s hard to explain what the sensation is like — perhaps a similar synchronicity as when someone completes a sentence you started but didn’t quite know how to finish yourself.
I was particularly drawn to his sconces made with beeswax-laminated paper and his rock stool, which was crafted through a tedious technique not disimilar to one I’ve used in my own jewelry (just on a very different scale). My friend Heather and I were equally enamored with his work and want to go visit him at his studio this summer… when we do, obviously you’ll hear about it here :)
(05) Rite of Way
Making the jump from a service-based profession to a company that deals with physical product is — as I learned first hand — not easy, so whenever someone I know does it I try to support however I can. My friend Alex, who I first met while freelancing as a graphic designer at a studio where he worked as a strategist, launched his perfume brand Rite of Way this path month and I’m super proud of him.
Last year, when Alex first asked me to be one of the testers for the final two scent options, I was nervous — what if I hated them? I’m a terrible liar, and honestly I didn’t want to have to wear-test a scent I didn’t like. Fortunately I didn’t have to do either of those things, because I genuinely, full-heartedly adore the perfume — a slightly musky but somehow still bright scent called Outer Realm. Like most scents I’m drawn to it’s quite androgynous, and while it’s not overpowering when worn I find that I can still catch whiffs of it even at the very end of my day, which I enjoy.
Formally the Head of Marketing at MadHappy, Alex has some interesting ideas for how he’s going to play things out with Rite of Way, and I’m excited to see where he takes it.
(06) The Grand Tourist Launch Party
May was the month for launches, I guess! The Grand Tourist published their first ever print issue and celebrated the launch in one of the most meticulously designed and unique spaces I’ve ever stepped foot in in NYC — the showroom of design studio Apparatus.
I was not there of my own invitation, by the way — I was simply the lucky tagalong of my friend Avery. She’s a journalist and often gets invited to events I would normally have no business being at. Whenever she asks me to be her +1 for these types of things, I rarely say no — I love being thrown into random situations, meeting people, and experiencing new things. In fact, going to an event like this with Avery in 2018 is how I met one of my best friends/roommate of five years.
Anyways — all of this is to say, you never know who you’ll meet or what will happen when you step outside of your comfort zone. In the case of this particular night, I ended up running into my dear friends who, unbeknownst to me, had art directed and styled one of the book’s cover photos! (They are partners both in life and in work). I had been chatting with them both individually earlier that day, and neither of us had any idea we’d be at the same event that night. Sometimes (read: a lot of the time) NYC feels like a small town and I love it.
(07) Brimfield
After all these launches and newness, it’s time to dive into the old. My friend Heather (the same Heather mentioned earlier) and I journeyed to Massachusetts this past month to go to Brimfield, aka “America’s oldest outdoor antique flea market,” or the Coachella of antiquing as I like to call it.
Beyond the fact that I simply adore antiquing as an activity, I did have both personal and professional reasons for going this year. My roommate and I are making changes and updates to our apartment now that it’s just the two of us, and I’m also working on something for Abel that I will hopefully launch within the year…
I love antiquing for a few reasons, one of them being that you always learn new things from knowledgeable vendors (like Camilo from my trip to Mexico City), and discover new (old) designers. Over time I also find that you start seeing patterns based on what you’re continually drawn to, which is helpful in defining your personal style and taste.
While I can’t share what I sourced for Abel (yet!), I’ve been thinking about doing a haul video/post of some kind for the things I sourced for myself… is that something you’d be interested in seeing? Let me know!
That’s my girl!!!!
<3 ily