I’ve Arrived

I’m enamored by creative mediums that are rooted in collaboration like music and editorial photoshoots. Everyone operating in their unique gifts to create a collective masterpiece - that’s divine. That’s how Arrived in Brooklyn felt.

My friend Nate invited me to be part of the exhibition and immediately I was in. I already felt the magic when he photographed my first floral fashion editorial. This opportunity would expand my creative community and challenge me to create my most stunning couture piece yet - I mean, it was going to be hosted in one of the fashion capitals of the world.

The botanical couture garment I created was the most labor intensive piece I had ever made. 32,000 hand-threaded bell pepper seeds. 60 hours. And one strong vision.

One year later, I showed this piece again and unveiled my latest botanical couture work at “Saved You A Spot” - the 4th annual Arrived Art Exhibition in Oakland. Opening night of the art show fell on my grandma’s birthday so I wanted my matriarch muses to be the inspiration point for what I was now calling the Seeded Collection. Inspired by femininity, growth and nurturance, the many definitions of “seeded” resonated deeply —

(adj) having been sown with seed

(verb) reproduce itself by means of its own seeds

(verb) cause something to begin to develop or grow

I connected the dots from my mom’s rose garden where my love of florals began to the cherry red Chevy Beretta my grandma had parked outside of the church - which just happened to be across the street from her house. That layer of ever present spirituality through my memories and creative practice affirmed the choice to use mustard seeds. Being inspired by the legacy of luminaries before me, I wanted this piece to embody the drama, boldness and fiery femininity that I feel from them. 360,000 mustard seeds later, I designed the Seeded Corset.

I left that weekend with the same gratitude I had following Arrived In Brooklyn with a sense of community and creative momentum that I had been craving. And it all started with an idea and faith the size of a mustard seed.