Con Artist Collective: A Beating Hub of Creativity in the Heart of the Lower East Side

After spending two months at the Con Artist Collective space, I know it’s a place that I’m going to miss. You have artists and creatives from all walks of life coming in, at all times of the day (the studio is open 24/7) to work, play, explore and create. It’s a thriving place that’s perfect for emerging artists looking for affordable studio space in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I’ve enjoyed painting there on my latest series of paintings ‘Transitions’, while also working on the business side to my art in the laptop work space on the ground level.

The Con Artist Collective space

Me working away on the ‘Transitions’ series in the studio

The outside area, where you can do spray-painting and work with other adhesive materials

How does it work? Well, it’s a shared studio space that works through a monthly membership where everyone pays the basic of $20. This enables members to have access to submitting work for the regular group shows that take place, attend classes and other events run by the collective.

Here’s a typical month’s schedule of the different events taking place

The ‘Unauthorised Mickey Mouse’ show that took place to commemorate Mickey’s 90^th Birthday!

You then have workspace memberships for whether you wish to use the studio on a 24/7 basis, or in the daytime from 11am to 7pm, during the gallery’s opening hours. The prices are currently in the process of changing, but for instance I was able to pay $405 for one-month of 24/7 access to the studio, including storage space. Amazing!

This is the main man - Brandon - who you see as you come into the studio

The best part for me has definitely been having a community of artists. Being an artist can often be lonely work, and it’s nice to have people around you that are coming from the same place, with similar ambitions – all of whom simply ‘get you’ for being the crazy-creative-being that you are! Everyone at the space is very friendly, and I’ve been able to have discussions with artists from all disciplines and artistic backgrounds. Bliss 😊

Sound perfect? Well, nowhere is perfect, let’s be fair. And with so many artists coming in at all times of the day and night, it can get a little messy (artists leaving their work out or not packing away properly), cleaning supplies can get low and the temperature in the workspace can also be a bit iffy at times. But on the whole, these feel like minor prices to pay for the overall ambience and the running of the space. Plus, it’s important to keep in mind that it often just takes one or two artists to create a mess – so most artists are actually being clean, tidy and respectful – and that’s the main thing to take away.

In terms of the *many* awesome artists I’ve met, here’s the lowdown on two of them:

Jeanne at work on her latest piece in the studio

Jeanne Jalandoni is an incredibly talented artist who lives and works in Uptown Manhattan. Her work is deeply fascinating, as she explores defining her Filipino-American identity through her experiences of growing up as a 2nd generation American. Her work entwines both oils and textiles, as her quest continues into deepening her understanding on how Filipinos/Filipino-Americans are perceived both socially and historically.

https://cargocollective.com/jeannefjalandoni

Secondly, is Bonesy, a passionate and dynamic force of an artist with an appetite for yoga. Yoga saved her life, quite literally, and she’s currently working on an ambitious series of work on the 196 yoga sutras that exist. The sutras are the authoritative text on yoga and each sutra is complex and conveys guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life. Bonesy is looking to create a painting that represents each of the 196 sutras. Interestingly, Bonesy completes all her paintings using palette knives - no brushes, and uses layered images to create depth and interest.

https://www.artbybonesy.com/

3 of Bonesy’s watercolour pieces created at the studio

And that’s just two of the many talented and amazing artists that make the studio their workspace!

Having not had the concentrated period of time to paint and think since my last artist residency at Hannacc in Barcelona, it’s been amazing to be around other artists and to be in a space with such dynamic and positive artistic vibes. And I know I’ll miss that. That hub and community. There’s something about the energy of others and being on a journey alongside them.

And finally, a big thanks to Con Artist Collective for being such a wonderful and welcoming space to be a part of! You guys rock and will certainly not be forgotten 😊

Transitions – A New Collection of Work

I’ve been working on a new series of paintings while in New York, entitled ‘Transitions’. They’ve been produced at my shared studio space that I have at Con Artist Collective, where I’ve also taken part in a group residency show. But what are the paintings about and what was the thought-process behind them? I use this blog as an opportunity to run over the background behind the abstract mark-making.

Inspiration initially started when I spent time in Colombia and experienced first-hand the Venezuelan refugee crisis. Daily, I saw more and more people arriving into the city of Medellin - well over a thousand kilometres away from Venezuela. The mounting horrendity of it all. Overbearing. It got me thinking about movement, changes, leaving home and displacement as a whole. I still haven’t found the right art venture to project my thoughts on the matter, but the situation had me contemplating fluxes in life in general, as I reflected on my own life and the human condition - and ultimately what we all have in common.

Notoriously, we’re all creatures of habits and we don’t often like the disruption of change, especially when imposed on oneself. I explored this with shapes in abstract form and what this resistance would look like through a series of sketches. And then I explored the opposite: natural, seamless transitions taking place – and what this looks like when abstracted into a less literal form.

Painting in the Con Artist Collective studio

Working on Transitions, layer by layer...

Change ultimately happens to all of us; life ensues, things change, it moves, flows, and will continue to do so. And as much as we’re creatures of habits – we’re social creatures too, and we create opportunities through interactions. We’re connected. Each and every one of us. And so we set intentions. Make plans. Our energy is put out into the world. As we set out each day and the sun keeps our time. And of course, the universe, or otherwise, has plans for us.

A lot has changed for me over the last year. Geographically, I’ve been making my way up through the Americas; from South to Central to North America. My relationship to my diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome has changed. It imbues more of my being, as I’ve come to accept it – and even become empowered by it. It’s a part of my identity. Though from birth, but also just 3 years ago. My understanding of Autism has changed, and I’m aware of issues around gender and minority groups, and those in these groups that are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. I’m learning more and more. My style of work has changed. The colours, brushstrokes, approach and general inspirations, as I continue to be influenced by those around me and my general environment.

A montage of the final 6 paintings that form 'Transitions'

These new paintings explore the subtle changes of transformation taking place; these little quirks and nuances that occur gradually. To those greater changes in life. Each painting has been built-up over a number of layers and you can see the colours and lines come through them, as you carefully look on. Changes themselves have taken place within each painting. You can see line, shape, form and colour coming through, and this felt important to capture. The upbeat and vibrant palette is a note and reflection that as human beings, we tend to have a position disposition - whether we believe this about ourselves or not. During hardships and tough times, we often look back and consider the learnings made; what we’ve gained, how our experiences have shaped us. And how we’ll cope better next time. We stock up.

Exhibiting Transitions I and II at the fall residency exhibition in New York

There’s also a great deal of rhythm and rhyme which can be viewed and felt within the paintings. Movement. The black lines show this as they weave in and out; in front of and behind the scenes of life. There are stops and starts. Sometimes it’s stilted. It’s not what we expected. But we keep on. On our path. For come what may. Such is the human spirit. For transitions are here.

If you’d like to see each painting in more detail, please visit the gallery page: https://www.mahliaamatina.com/art-gallery

NYC: A Neurodiverse Perspective

Every city is different from a neurodiverse point of view. And this can vary day-by-day, mood by mood, street by street. In this blog post, I’ll run over my observations on how I’m finding New York as a city to live in. 

From a sensory perspective, NYC, surprise surprise, is a very LOUD city. This is something I’ve noticed over and above *anything* else. Its complete and utter assault to my eardrums, are like no other.  Horns honking. The train wheels screeching. But mostly the sirens from emergency vehicles. It’s like nothing I’ve heard before and seems to defy all logic – and sound barriers for that matter. And it’s constant. Even now after a few weeks of being here, I still jump and clench within myself, as the sound jars inside me, as I wait for it to simmer down. My body feels constantly shocked.

An example of an offending emergency vehicle

Normally I’m most sensitive to lights; their intensity in brightness and anything that flashes repeatedly or in a dance or strobe-style mode. And though the lights here are bright, I’ve seen far worse in Colombia. Here they’re just of a ‘normal’ brightness, (whatever that means these days). Surprisingly. I am deliberately avoiding the central mid-town area of Manhattan where you have the likes of Times Square and ample shops (no need to put myself through that!), so at least my eyes are being spared. The smells aren’t too intense either. I used to find in Colombia and Guatemala, the smell of food would dependably be in the streets, with vendors cooking food items from scratch. The aromas taking up the air space. Or other smells like shoe polish and other such chemicals. Here, it’s more in line with the UK’s ‘smell levels’.

Downtown Manhattan. Heavily build up. Also an area I normally try to avoid!

Like many large cities, New York is intense. Super intense. It can be hard to plan your day if you need to travel and get about by public transport. Trains are often delayed. The direction and stops are not clearly labelled - and then it’s not uncommon to find a station which shares its name with another station stop. Not helpful when you find yourself at the wrong ‘version’ of the station you’re supposed to be at! This is not much fun, and you really have to accept this and learn to plan in large margins into your time for lateness.

When you’re trying to cross a road, there’s a red counter that counts down the number of seconds you have left until the cars are unleashed to continue their ride. I know it’s like this in many cities, but given the size of the road to cross, this can be immensely anxiety-provoking. It’s not just one or two lanes of traffic coming at you either – but around four or five! This can feel quite disorientating. And stressful. I just find myself waiting a lot.

6 lanes of traffic to contend with!

The countdown to cross the road begins…

The interesting thing, however, is that because there’s so much space everywhere, it doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming. Or certainly not to the extent I expected it to be. The streets here are huge; for instance the sidewalk (yes, pavement!) can often be as wide as an entire road in the UK. In this respect, it just doesn’t feel as concentrated in its overall sense of overwhelming force. Another consequence is that it doesn’t feel overly busy either. There are lots of people, sure, but you’re never really bumping into them, as there’s enough space to not have to do so. It’s a contrast to Broad Street in Reading, where you’re constantly having to avoid doing so!

So, every city is different, and New York varies a lot for me, but here’s a snapshot to give you my general impression. Until the next blog post! 😉

NYC: Touch-down in Brooklyn, Part II

I’ve been here a little longer now and beginning to settle in. I’m navigating my way around the city better and due to the project work I’m doing here in terms of the workshops, studio work, visiting galleries and meeting autistic artists - I’m getting to see quite a bit of the city. Which, when I’m not getting lost – is lovely!

So. I’m in New York; this great, amazing city - part of America, this *mighty* land - yet it doesn’t feel so ‘great’ at times… and this is something that’s been gnawing away at me each day since arriving. It comes to me in bursts. Little things that continually get me thinking that living standards aren’t so fantastic here. I mean this at a personal level by the way, for your average American - or businesses and large corporation - the story is very different. And these are my comparisons to the UK/Western Europe.

Firstly, people don’t seem to have as many rights here. I mean their private healthcare system lends itself to its very own blog post, but I’m also referring to consumer rights and employment law. Their maternity pay and leave is minimal, and holidays aren’t easy to come by. I thought the UK had a minute number of public holidays! And you can totally forget about minimum pay here. And other basic rights: if you’re fired, you’re fired. And even though you’re paying private healthcare insurance, not everything is covered. For instance, you still have to pay for a mammogram (in the hundreds) or to give birth (in the thousands). How does that figure…?

In terms of consumer law, there’s a real lack of price transparency, and I’m noticing this a lot when I do my grocery shopping. You have to be really careful not to get ripped off! There are a lot of small, local, grocery stores. And often goods aren’t labelled in price. And where they are, you still have to check that it’s being priced through correctly at the till. It’s also really normal for my local greengrocer to change its prices on almost a daily basis – as it is for me to be charged $2.50 for a pepper, instead of the $1.50. And yes, that is the price for one pepper! Food is considerably more expensive here – and this is taking into account the not-so-favourable exchange rate. But you want to hear the worst of it? It goes off really quickly! Apparently, food standards overall are considerably lower than in Europe and in terms of the lack of price transparency – this is excused by saying that you weren’t ‘forced’ to buy the product and that you always had a choice in the matter. And no, you can certainly not get a refund easily(!)

Yes, the infamous $1.50 pepper, which I was initially charged $2.50 for

Another aspect, is the fact that it’s really uncommon to have a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer (or at least adequate outdoor space to dry your clothes) in your apartment. Now, I’m not against going to a launderette in any way – my last art project was all about washing, after all! But by not having these utilities, and with food shopping being that much more difficult – it takes up a lot of your time. Time away from leisure and relaxation. And surely that’s a sign in itself of lower living standards? It’s odd, it feels like we’re back in the 90s or thereabouts; a real drop that I just didn’t anticipate.

With no dishwasher, the washing up gloves are always at the ready! 

And yes, the food portions are notoriously huge. But why though? And why in New York, a more progressive state? And why so, more importantly, when people can’t and don’t finish them?! It makes you continue to pick at your plate when you’re far past the point of being full, and then you end up carrying a doggy-bag around with you for the rest of the evening. Smaller portions (healthier and more manageable) while charging slightly less (better for the consumer and the business wouldn’t lose out) being the solution? It’s an interesting one and will continue to plague me for the rest of my time here, I’m sure!

So, these have been my latest nit-picks as I continue to get to grips with the city! It’s a busy time, and I’ll speak more about the work that I’ve been doing in my next blog posts – I just didn’t want these initial impressions to become the norm, and for me to then forget about them!

Do stay in touch on social media too by the way through my handle @mahliaamatina – I’m posting most days on what I’m up to and continued observations on this fascinating city! Thanks for reading 😊

NYC: Touch-down in Brooklyn, Part I

I’ve been here in Brooklyn, New Yok, a short while now and it’s blown me away in terms of the number of impressions it has made on me. The initial one is quite simply the size: it’s a HUGE city! I always knew it would be big; American style XXXL and all that. But it’s only when you get here and start to navigate your way around the city, that you realise how quickly exhaustive it can all become, as you apply your London or other ‘big city logic’ to New York. It doesn’t quite work on the same level. I’ll let you know how that develops though, as it may just be the initial settling in period for me.

So anyway, yes, it’s a big place, but what else? Well the neighbourhood I’m living in; Crown Heights, has this intense population make-up of Jews and Afro-Caribbean’s. it’s such a contrast of behaviours I’m seeing between the two, as they live harmoniously, side by side. And the other neighbourhoods too - like in many cities, I suppose - change very quickly and are similarly made up of distinct ethnic groups. But here in NYC it feels far more striking. When I visited Brighton Beach, for instance, it was an area full of Russians and Ukrainians. To the point where Eastern European was the prominent, if not only cuisine available. They were the only languages I could hear (occasionally punctuated by English) and the signs were bilingual – in Russian and English. It was quite an extraordinary sight and feeling to witness, as I imagined them arriving into the area and then expanding to occupy it over time. Well, at least I’ve found my haven for dumplings, sautéed cabbage and potatoes, should I crave it!

My closest subway station that connects me to Manhattan and beyond: Franklin Avenue 

The area where I live is highly gentrified – you have the usual array of bars, cafes and restaurants and even museums and a botanical garden nearby 

On the whole, and despite the size of the city, I’d say it’s definitely a friendly city. I’m used to averting my eyes from people as I revert back to my ‘London ways’, however I’m always pleasantly surprised when someone greets me with a ‘good morning’ or a simple ‘hello’. And to be greeted is refreshing. A simple sign of humanity. But naturally where a city is friendly, it also has its brutally rude moments. I’ve known someone to quite literally be *shoved* out of the way at a subway station, as their ticket didn’t swipe through the first time round. I’m always surprised when I hear stories like this. It makes me reflect on what happens to a person to take this course of action; to feel this sense of entitlement over and above another human being. How and when did it start? Was it a one-off moment of impatience or are they always like this? My fascination with human behaviour! But overall, I would say it’s a friendly place, where people will smile and try to help you find your way 😊 I know I’ve been helped plenty!

And did I tell you that New York is an artist’s paradise?! My soul has been thoroughly cleansed and revived here, for there’s art and culture happening on each and every corner! And that’s one of the absolute *joys* of living here: there are pop-up galleries, one-off shows and performances – stuff that you happily and spontaneously walk past and pleasantly discover. Because that’s the only way to do it. Otherwise, you’d spend your life looking up every art and cultural event, and that’s time that no one has! And you’d never find it all anyway. For there’s always a new mural going up, an exhibition coming down, a musician setting up somewhere, a performance art piece taking place in this actual moment… So, the simple and best way is just to soak it all up and enjoy it – a very mindful approach to life, art and culture itself…

Brooklyn Museum – 5 floors of amazingness! It’s free on Thursday evenings, so no prizes for guessing where I am on a Thursday night!

New street art, I recently discovered – like I say, there’s art on every corner!

So those are my initial impressions, but there are many others that I’ve been jotting down, so do come back for Part II of this blog later this week! Until then 😊

The local streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn

The traditional sign of America, seen in all those American movies, (as well as in Guatemala!) - the yellow school bus