ARTIST SERIES 017: Leon Xu

Leon Xu is painter and fine artist from San Francisco, California. His paintings are something from a dream or the first few blinks after waking up. Misty, faded, and bright with color. They typically feature light refractions, muddled reflections, and shadows. Although his current body of work is centered around more specific subjects.

He draws inspiration from what he calls “brain tingles.” This term refers to moments of ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response. It is a feeling caused by certain auditory or sensory stimuli felt in the head and down the spine. These moments produce a sense of deep relaxation. Leon’s process includes reflecting on those moments, capturing them in a photo and painting the best expression of what he was feeling.

We talked about how his art begins with actively observing his surroundings. Our discussion landed on how observing is a practice that takes refining. It is a muscle you must grow and a study you need to be dedicated to. Leon says that graffiti was his introduction to being actively observant. The way graffiti enhances surrounds to be dense with art and information pertaining to the culture. As his observations became more developed they transitioned into what he paints today. If you look at his body of work you see this reflected in what he chooses to paint.

His newest series of work is centered around his car which he is deeply connect to. Leon was inspired to buy a Toyota Celica from Initial D, a manga series based around street racing and car culture in Japan. Initial D provides Leon with inspiration and subject matter to this day. Leon spent a lot of time in his car during the pandemic. It became an outlet and a sanctuary for him. Driving was one of a very select few opportunities to gain inspiration and observe his surroundings when New York shut down. His observation process shifted to center around “brain tingles” observed from the sanctuary of his car. Thus leading to the body of work photographed in this series.

We met working at 18 East in downtown Manhattan. A shop that we spend time shooting the shit, talking art, and graffiti. See you at work! Thank you for having me at the studio.

ARTIST SERIES 016: Geshu RYB

“I don't want to be famous. I want to be infamous. Graffiti should be about infamy, not fame, it's about not wanting to be out in the public eye.You should see graffiti, you shouldn’t know what's behind it. It should be mysterious. It should inspire mystery, you know what I'm saying, intrigue and I create something in my mind about who that person is. Subconsciously I create a character. I started looking at graffiti in the tunnels. I'm like, what crazy mother fuckers would go in the tunnels, risk their lives to put their name up.” - Geshu

Geshu, pronounced ‘guess who,’ is a graffiti and fine artist from the Upper West Side. His stickers and tags were some of the first that introduced me to graffiti. Geshu has some of the craziest, smoothest, and most complex handstyles in the game. He recently released a 300 page blacked out book called ‘RYB’ consisting of hundreds of hand styles and drawings. It contains some of the most insane styles I’ve seen. Geshu has been diving into his fine art and drawings more as of recent which are equally as intricate and meticulously drawn. We had two separate photo sessions filled with more conversation and storytelling than actual photography. As an OG New Yorker he has stories and experience to span multiple lifetimes. To protect his identity this is the most I can write.

ARTIST SERIES 015: Wiki

I used to see Wiki93 tagged on the upper west side growing up - from the blocks I would frequent to the 86th street station I would use daily. Eventually I was put onto Wiki’s first solo project, Wiki93, a project that has been in my rotation since I was a junior in high school. His bars resonated with me on a deep level. His deep cut uptown Manhattan references, the way he related to his surroundings, his affinity and appreciation for the train, and his unique metaphorical lyricism made me keep up with his path to this day. Come to find out he was raised on 89th street, I was raised on 88th, we are cut from the same cloth. 

When I worked at The Good Company, Wiki would frequent the shop and we got to know each other and worked on a few projects together. I had the opportunity to shoot his last live show in New York at the Sultan Room before COVID19 shut down the city. That was the last time we had seen each other before we linked up for this segment of the Artist Series. 

Wiki just moved into a new apartment in Chinatown so I went to meet him there, excited as I pulled up to see that he now lives on one of my favorite blocks in the city. We sat down catching up as he rolled up a spliff and we were launched into a long conversation about new beginnings, navigating transitions, love life, our memories of the Upper West Side growing up, creating during quarantine, new projects and navigating within the creative scene.  

We started off talking about love life. We had been through break ups recently so we had a lot to relate on. He frequently includes his love life in his music and his romantic side is a part of who he is as an artist. Wiki expressed his frustration with not being heard and crazed with the thought of not being able to say what he needs to. We concluded that we are grateful to have creative outlets to channel this into. 

Settling into his new apartment Wiki found that his new surroundings have inspired and sparked his creativity, excited to throw himself heavily into his craft. He showed me his next songs and pieces of new projects. Wiki rapped every verse with passion, I had to have him run his verses back to grasp every aspect of his dense lyrics.

A segment of our conversation that really stuck with me was about his admiration of the subway. I mentioned my annoyance with transplants talking down on the MTA and he emphatically agreed. Wiki said that the train is the most beautiful part of the city and one of his favorite aspects of the New York experience. We traded stories about riding the train. Traveling with others, the intimacy of being in such close quarters with other New Yorkers, and the how the vast visuals that we witness underground have been a huge inspiration for both his music and my photo work. 

Wiki expressed his need to surround himself with genuine, kind, and motivated individuals that uplift his art and elevate his growth as a person. Many of his peers in creative scenes don’t share the same values, instead searching for clout/fame or shallow affirmations of success. Wiki is here to inspire and continue to impact New York and the world with his music.

ARTIST SERIES 014: Joana Avillez

Joana Avillez is an illustrator born and raised in New York. She has done work for the likes of Penguin, Random House, Harper Collins, The Museum of Modern Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The United Nations, The New York Times, The New Yorker and New York Magazine. Her work is beautiful, playful, poinginat and typically accompanied by text. I first became aware of Joana’s work through her illustrations in the New Yorker, specifically an article called Faces of February Decoded. I loved the expressive faces, beautifully drawn winter clothing, and the comical humanizing hand written blurbs. From that point I checked out Joana’s work and have been keeping up ever since. 

I was lucky enough to photograph Joana for Agnes B. about a month ago. We went back and forth for a while to schedule an appointment at her home in Tribeca. Trying to schedule indoor shoots in New York during Covid is a tricky task but eventually we settled on a date! When I arrived we immediately hopped into conversation like we had known each other for years. We discussed our experiences during quarantine in New York. We both agreed that one of the most difficult results of quarantine to observe was the influx of homelessness and obvious lack of infrastructure to support this. We discussed what we could do personally to help. We connected on the difficulty of living with a significant other when space and movement is so limited. But, yet how grateful we are to have company and a creative endeavors to pursue and keep us busy. 

Her apartment is a gorgeous open floor plan with art, unique furniture, and floor to ceiling bookshelves. She walked me through a bunch of her recents works which ranged from journals, to zines, to magazine articles, and even her first few drawings as a child. We talked about growing up in New York, Joana was raised in a fish market in downtown Manhattan. We connected on the fact that the neighborhoods we grew up in are nothing like the way they used to be. Both of her parents were artists and she discussed how being raised in a creative environment helped lead her to a creative career path. 

It was an honor to photograph you in your home!

ARTIST SERIES 013: Radamiz

Radamiz (Radhames Rodriguez) is a rapper born and raised in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. He has been releasing music since 2012 but I got hip to music in 2016 through his debut album Writeous. That same year he opened up for Nas at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival and a year later opened up for Black Star in the same festival. His last EP Synonyms of Strength really drew my attention and ultimately sparked this installment of the Artist Series.

Radamiz and I linked up at a coffee shop downtown and quickly hopped into a conversation about our upbringings, inspiration, ideals, and spirituality. I mentioned how I admired his insightful lyrics and specific New York references within his work. He responded by delving into his formative experiences growing up in New York a young Dominican man from the Brooklyn P’s. 

Radamiz graduated from NYU studying social and cultural analysis with a minor in creative writing. We discussed how it affected his outlook on his experiences and how that adds to his music. Radamiz said he takes a spiritual stand about looking towards the future while accepting and letting go of the past. He recounted a story about his friend Chops who was incarcerated whom he talked to every few weeks for over a year. While Chops was locked up his mom was featured in a Radamiz music video and it is Chops’s voice that speaks on Rad’s song Bendiciones. Radamiz included him in the ways that he could to continue moving forward positively. That process for Radamiz is him questioning, what does freedom look like?

My favorite note that we touched upon was his outlook on gangsterism in relation to spiritualism. One of his songs starts with, “I mix the gangsterism with the spiritualism.” These two ideas are typically categorized as mutually exclusive. Radamiz says that they actually exist together more in gangsterism and street culture than other demographics. Radamiz said, the most street people he knows are the most spiritual people he knows. Preaching gangsterism with spiritualism is combatting a stereotype and one of Radamiz of many lyrics that speaks to his insightful ideals and niche views into his world. 

Radamiz and I finished up our conversation and made our way to the studio he has been making music at for the last seven years. The moment we stepped in the door Radamiz was in work mode, notebook and pencil out, harddrive with the engineer, beats and songs queued up to finish. He ran through six tracks in under three hours, each track was unique and deeply impressive. We took a few minutes to shoot once the session was wrapped. Radamiz sat there listening to the work he had just made, bumping his head up and down. It was a pleasure to watch you work, thank you Rad.

ARTIST SERIES 012: Adewale Quadri

Adewale and I met shooting a look book for Cliff USA. Me and him instantly connected on our energy and shared passion of the come up and how to move within our fields. Adewale is a jack of all trades from modeling, to small gigs on Netflix, to designing shoes and accessories he can do it all. 

We talked about his trials of growing up in North side of Chicago raised by a single mother. He discussed the dangers of his surroundings, trying to avoid the over arching theme of violence that surrounded him. Adewale said that his older brother who lives in LA was a role model and an inspiration to escape his surroundings to pursue a safer and creative career path. He went to LA where his brother held him down for a bit. Eventually he moved to New York. 

Adewale always had a goal to do something different. He always had a passion for shoe design, and had been wanting to start something for a while, quarantine opened the door for him to focus and develop his process. At the beginning of COVID, he was inspired by his girlfriends 1972 Nike Cortez’s that were worn down and coming apart. He wanted to see how he could rework and deconstruct them into something totally new. This got him in the ultimate creative mindset. Adewale wanted to go even further, this is where it all began. 

I watched him make a pair of his shoes while we chopped it up and continued to connect on our journeys. His process began with deconstructing the main components of the shoe, then putting it back together with wool fabric/materials. Everything he does and makes has been in his studio during quarantine. He hopes to upgrade to a new set up soon. He is 100% self taught and learned a lot through trial and error. Adewale scoured the depths of youtube for various elements that contribute to his design process. 

Just 4 months in Smino and Lil Yachty were the first celebrities to cop a pair. More recently, Justin Beiber got his hands on a pair, and West Side Gun got a 1 of 1 custom which he’ll be rocking in his upcoming music video.

ARTIST SERIES 011: Jack Moore

Jack and I have always been in similar circles. I went to a few of the shows he's curated in the past. We have mutual friends such as Hunter Potter, West Bechler and Colin Lyon. All of whom are amazing artists. I have always admired his work so I asked to photograph him in his studio. I biked 10 miles from my place in South Brooklyn to his studio in the Maspeth area. Jack has a studio that he splits with three other artists. His work is colorful, playful, and striking. It encompasses a perfect mesh of precision and effortlessness. Around his studio, I saw paintings of basketballs, tabs of LSD and people embracing one another. All paintings touching on the expectations and perceptions of masculinity in popular American culture.

I watched him paint a piece that he will release along with a series of similar paintings. He carefully painted over mistakes with a small brush. To finish off our session he used spray paint to dust the canvas from afar. His approach was confident and very touch and go. All and all it was very entertaining and fascinating to watch Jack paint. In the wake of coronavirus his studio mates haven’t been in the studio so he has the big front door studio space to himself.

We ended up connecting on a bunch of topics relevant to our lives as contemporary artists in NYC. Such as the impact of graffiti, skateboarding and street culture to our growth as artists. Also bonding over our critiques of the subcultures and movements that we love.

Jack said his alone time painting has helped him become comfortable in his own skin. In sum, working on his craft has helped him embrace his sensitive and empathetic personality. Traits he formally viewed, through the lens of attending suburban catholic high school, as unmasculine and therefore, weak. We discussed his lifelong draw to New York and his eventual move here after attending college in Vermont.

We agreed that the people, especially artists, who leave their towns and thrive in New York positivity add to the social and artistic climate of the city. How our different upbringings ultimately lead us into similar paths with like minded ideals.

ARTIST SERIES 010: Saji Gabriel Kashimawo Abude

Saji is a multimedia artist born and raised on the upper west side of Manhattan. He runs a custom embroidery and denim repair brand called Chainstich which has become a go to for brands like Bode and A.P.C. Saji also has made strides in screenwriting and film making by taking part in the Tribeca Film Fellows. He has also been making music producing, rapping, and singing with the likes of Sporting Life, Harrison and other young contemporaries. His newest endeavor is painting as he showed me his two first paintings. Along with being one of the people with the most forward thinking style I’ve come across, Saji is the quintessential creative who wears many hats. 

Saji and I grew up a block away from each other and went to the same high school, CityAs School which is program that offers internships instead of typical classroom education. We talked about the impact of our experience their and the overall impact of the school on New York’s creative community. It was beautiful to connect with another artist who had a very similar upbringing and progression toward becoming a full time artist. The neighborhood we grew up is ceased to exist the way were familiar with. We covered every aspect of what made the Upper West  such a special neighborhood when we were jits. Saji discussed his experience growing up in a mixed family with a single mother, his creative influence from peers like Lula Hyers, Esteban Scott, and the whole creative community that has formed before our eyes. How he moved on to turn the darker moments into learning experiences and to create a virtuous art career. 

Saji and I witnessed our peers leave the city in droves for school or simply to escape the city while we stayed to work and build upon our creative endeavors. Saji’s goal and biggest desire now is to keep striving for balance, and to continue to sharpen his toolbox of skills and experiences. 

Thank you for having me in your studio!

ARTIST SERIES 009: Jaquell

Jaquell is a New Yorker, rapper, songwriter, and producer. He has been producing and songwriting hip hop, dance music, techno, etc. for many years and now has some popular songs. Over the years he has amassed almost 200k monthly listeners. His new project Pieces is great, go check it out and he has a lot more to come.

Jaquell and I have known each other since high school. We first met in 2015 when he was hosting parties for a studio in Bushwick. My friends and I used to go to those events pretty often. Once I moved to Harlem Jaquell was at my spot here and there. In 2017, earlier in Jaquell’s music career we linked up and shot in East Harlem. We both loved what we made together. We hadn’t seen each other in maybe over a year so it was great to catch up and see what he’s been making. I met him at his studio in Brooklyn and was met with some great energy. He showed me his next project with entirely with Fatboy Slim song by song. I was hyped to see his progression as an artist, both in talent and the scale of his projects. We talked about all the bullshit we got up to at his old studio parties, moving apartments, new roommates, prior projects, passions, goals, and of course Corona Virus. When we shot this we weren’t on lock down yet so we were predicting what was to come. Jaquell wrapped his whole head and face in a scarf as we left.

My guy! It was great seeing you and thank you for letting me photograph you!

ARTIST SERIES 008: Medhane

First time I saw Medhane preform was at a Chadie Boy rooftop function in Bushwick in 2017. We had 150-200 people filling three roofs, big speakers, a DJ set up, and live performances. As usual it lasted until the cops shut it down. From that performance I knew I would be hearing that name again. I’ve been keeping up with Medhane’s career since then. His last two projects “Own Pace” and “Full Circle” are phenomenal. All around Medhane is a master at saying a lot with a few words. His songs are dense and meaningful. As a New Yorker you can feel his roots in the music. 

Medhane and I linked at the XL Recording studio where he and his engineer where working on an upcoming project. He told his engineer to play the whole project through. I photographed slowly and casually while it was played. I’m grateful I got to listen to that in the studio and I’m hyped to see how people react to it. We talked about Corona Virus and media of course since that’s been the main point of conversation these days. We took a walk to get some food, restaurants had not been shut down in NYC yet. We found a few spots to capture photos. Luckily we found some good golden hour light. 

Excited to see what Medhane has in store for us in the coming year. Thank you for photographing with me! 

ARTIST SERIES 007: Jack Greer

Jack Greer is an artist of many mediums and man behind Iggy, one of my favorite brands right now. The look books for Iggy are complicated sewn collages of his photos, drawings, and graffiti. All of them feature peers and other artists that he admires. To further advertise Iggy he shoots his own campaign photos and installs them into phone booths replacing the old ones. The graphic heavy vibrant lines of clothing make Iggy very recognizable. His clothes range from tshirts to complicated cut and sew.


We met at The Good Company a few times and as an admirer of the brand I reached out to include him in this series. I met Jack and his dog named Iggy at his apartment in downtown Manhattan. I immediately noticed his eye for detail. All of his pens were aligned perfectly straight, in conversation he broke down every thought to the nth degree, and in the meticulous nature of both his personal and Iggy art work. Jack and I talked about his history as a fine artist and how “elevated” art spaces foster a problematic system.


He talked about how he is putting his ALL into Iggy to creatively express exactly what he intends to showcase. He said he would rather look back at Iggy and know that he did everything he could to create his own vision then look back and feel like he was following trends or appealing to others. I believe he is doing that perfectly and that is why I needed to include him in this series.


Thank you for sharing everything with me!

ARTIST SERIES 006: Reboe

Reboe requested that I keep the caption short to keep his identity safe. We linked up to help promote his upcoming video called “All We Got Is Us”, a 56 minute video of raw New York City graffiti, featuring a large mass of very prominent New York City writers, a project like this has not existed in over a decade. An interview about the project can be found in the near future via Carnage NYC or Reboe followed with details about the public release.

ARTIST SERIES 005: Nicole McLaughlin 

Nicole and I first met when I was working at Snow Peak, a store in Soho. Her and her boyfriend Ryan would come in and chat with me and the staff. After a few visits we became friends and I would always look forward to catching up with them. 

At the time Nicole and Ryan were both designers at Reebok. I was aware of Nicole’s endeavors outside of work and I remember asking her about it. She said that she was grinding hard at Reebok in Boston whole freelancing on the side. Fast forward to now Nicole has taken the dive and is completely freelance. She now has so many huge projects under her belt and it is just the beginning. 

I met Nicole at her apartment in Brooklyn. After catching up for a bit she began to make a shoe from a Reebok windbreaker. Nicole graciously walked me through every step in her process, she said that she has gotten good at explaining because she has done so many workshops. Her studio was nicely organized and filled with beautiful pieces that she has made, some I had seen on her instagram and others were new to me. 

I ended up staying at her place for quite some time and chatting. We talked about the ins and outs of freelance and both of our experiences dealing with being under payed then bossing up with our own work. Nicole also mentioned her passion for doing workshops for people that are hearing impaired. We covered the difficulties and pleasures of being in relationships especially with hard working significant others. Nicole and I have a lot of respect for each other’s work so we went back and forth talking about or visions and why we do what we do. 

Being in your studio was so inspiring, thank you Nicole! 

ARTIST SERIES 004: SNOEMAN

Snoeman and I first met in 2015 at the OnlyNY office in Harlem. Snoe used to pull up and get markers from Only. As an intern it was my job to get him the markers. He graciously dropped a throwie in my black book and we have been in contact ever since.

Last year around Christmas time Snoe and I collaborated on a project called Fashion for the Streets. He invited me to his studio to photograph him paint on three brand new rain jackets we then ran around the city on a rainy night looking for less fortunate people to gift the jackets too. You can see that project on my website or if you scroll down my feed a bunch.

This was my second time photographing Snoeman in his studio. Him and I have become good friends over the years so this session was very casual. I came through with a 12 pack of white claw and maduros. Snoe always wants to make the best work possible so of course he has three separate projects that he wanted photographed during our session. He was working on a huge collage on a canvas, continuing to paint Yankee New Era fitteds, screen printing more souvenir tees, AND freestyles quickly on two pinned up papers.

Snoe mentioned that he had been in the studio with Gianni Lee and was inspired by how he approached his work. Snoe decided to freestyle those two drawings because he admired the way Gianni painted with no inhibitions. We spent the session talking about what the future holds for us. We talked about how people tell him that they have seen his stickers and tags since they were kids. It’s always a wake up call when you’ve been sticking to one art form for a lifetime. Snoe and I are both very ambitious and want to reach the heights of our fields. We always talk game about how to get there.

It won’t be my last time in Snoeman’s studio, thank you family.

ARTIST SERIES 003: Zeehan Wazed

Zeehan and I met by chance two summers ago. He invited me and a friend into his studio and gallery (@abxy) to see his work. I was blown away. I walked through a small hectic basement studio into a huge gallery with high ceilings displaying his current work at the time. His work was tones of black, browns, golds, and streaks of white. So dynamic, moving, and stunning. He handed me an iPad and told me to hold it up to the painting. At first I was confused but as I centered the iPad silhouettes of dancers appeared on the canvas, interacting with the forms. Zeehan told me that his is also a dancer/b-boy. I was so impressed how he seamlessly integrated his two art forms. I’ve been a big supporter of his work ever since.

We planned to meet while he painted a mural directly adjacent to the gallery. He showed me his current work which integrates his typical abstract work with beautifully painted real forms. All the real forms are based on viral images, disasters, and events that struck Zeehan. He wants to immortalize the viral images that pass and cease to be relevant in moments. As well he showed me a series of four paintings that trigger a short film with augmented reality, first of its kind. He has lots of plans with augmented reality so be on the look out.

We stood on the street together while he painted for hours. We talked about our past selves and what we were like growing up in New York public schools. Zeehan is another native New Yorker so we connected on that a lot. Zeehan works differently from any artist I has photographed. His process is deeply organic with a bit of sporadic energy mixed in. He spoke about having no formal training, having his own formula, and using mediums that other artists may look down upon. Zeehan throws parties/events and dance sessions that are a hit. He spoke very passionately about fostering a community of artists through this and his desire to reignite the dance scene in New York. If anyone can do it, it’s him!

Talking to Zeehan was a breath of fresh air and seamless connection. Very honored to have had the opportunity to watch you paint.

ARTIST SERIES 002: Monica Hernandez

Monica my good friend graciously let me photograph at her studio in Queens. Her space had four huge bright canvases, three separate pieces. Monica painted the form sprawled across both connected canvases. I watched her mix her paint into palate of different shades of brown. It was the first time I had seen someone paint with acrylic. It was amazing to see how she approached the canvas!

We spent the time talking about her process and what influences her work. Her moving from the Dominican Republic at a young age, how her values and ideas differ from typical Dominican traditions and gaining growth and understanding from that journey. We spoke about her upcoming opportunities and past residences. We talked about the dating in New York, complexities of dating, and being ghosted. We went back and forth about gigs we had and how they went. We took a lot of time reflecting on why we make work and how we want to do so moving forward. I am such an admirer of her work.

Very grateful for this experience, thank you Monica.