I come from two highly creative parents, each in their own ways. My personal goal is to create things that live up to those expectations and you say to yourself “This place looks like it’s from a movie.”Ĭan you give us a brief story of how you got started in set design, and what made you get involved with it? We watch so many movies that have bars, clubs, and party scenes that are so grand. Most importantly and this might sound silly, but I try to create things that look like they are from a movie. I never have it all planned out, I let the process dictate the final look and outcome.
![hush gay bar nyc hush gay bar nyc](https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/11/29/drag-bar-etiquette-FT-BLOG1121.jpg)
I find things I like and then build off of each piece like a puzzle. Then I start to shop at flea markets or salvage yards, digging through and discovering antiques and oddities. I turn to movies, books, paintings, and comics for ideas. I then research what I had sketched in my notebook. I’m a huge fan of raw ideas they definitely need to be paid attention to and taken seriously. A lot of times those initial ideas are part of the final product. I walk the space and make sketches in my notebook off the top of my head. When I come up with a design it usually happens in the space itself. When you are creating an interior or set design, how do you come up with your ideas for them and how are they thought out? I bring a sense of obligation to anything I ever do in this town: art, music, set design, and night clubs. If you’re doing anything that you feel should warrant anyone’s time, respect, or money, then it better be fucking awesome or don’t even bother. There are tens of thousands of people creating art in the city at any given time, and millions before you, as it is one of the greatest artistic cities in history. Lastly, I hold working in New York in such high regard, there’s so much respect you have to show when creating here. I tend to work in a hyperdrive sense when it comes to deadlines, whether they are real or set by myself in my head. There’s an overall franticness to New York that only those who live, work, and create here understand.
![hush gay bar nyc hush gay bar nyc](https://10619-2.s.cdn12.com/rests/original/409_503814491.jpg)
That has always played a big role in my art and designs. Walking through the city I saw so much graffiti and street art. While working in my father’s shop, I was exposed to so much art, framing prints and posters of Picasso, Van Gogh, Chagall, etc. I bring that experience of living in the wear and tear of New York City into most of the things I create. It’s hard to believe what the city was back then it seems like a made-up memory.
#Hush gay bar nyc movie#
Being exposed to Manhattan in the 80s at such a young age gave me a sense of grit and texture, as if you were living in a movie set. After moving the shop to New Jersey, we would drive deliveries into the city every Saturday and Sunday. I grew up coming to New York City every weekend as far back as I can remember to work for my father at his picture frame shop, which was first located in Hell’s Kitchen and then moved to New Jersey. New York has impacted every aspect of my work since the very beginning. How has New York City impacted your work over the years?