There is a movement underfoot of a new culture of art collectors and you could join it.

Most people wait way too long to start an art collection, if they ever figure out how to start one at all. For most people who come to work with me, art feels foreign and difficult to navigate.

Here’s a really hot take really high in this article: The art world has failed. It has failed to effectively engage our culture in a way that feels relevant to our everyday lives.

But there is a wave of art collectors who are breaking out of the stuffy and elitist establishment of collecting. By doing this, they are elevating art that has the capacity to point our society to a beautiful future and are beginning to break down the fortress…

Art, when intentionally selected and reflective of who you are can be an incredible conversation starter. Hosting a dinner party should always be done with intention and focus, and art can be a natural and fascinating place to start.

Two pro tips here.

Let art lead the way. Let it be prominent! Let it be centered. Point your lights to it, give it breathing room, let it take command of the room. You can let your furniture and decor purchases be in response to the art. Base everything around the art.

Do not be afraid to buy bold, opinionated art. If you like it, buy it. It will spark super…

Or I am anyway. Are you? It’s exhausting.

I feel exhausted for the people who feel the need to change their entire closet, and wall decor, and bedding, and furniture every few years.

It sucks for your bank account and it sucks for you. So stressful! No I think we can be done with it. Fast fashion, thanks to the concerted efforts of activists, is going out of vogue. We know by now that if you buy something poorly made, you’re going to buy it again way sooner than you’d like. But we’re still trapped in this trend-mill where we are constantly being told to revamp. Not only does it cost a lot, but it rarely leads to a more fulfilling and enriching life.

In a word, it’s vapid.

How to find art.

Specifically, how to find art from emerging and mid-career artists.

So this is a question I get asked really frequently. Finding art from emerging artists is hard, time consuming and often feels like luck. I have been in the arts for a decade so I have a pretty extensive network of artist friends and colleagues, and have my finger on the pulse in terms of new artists entering the industry. However, most people don’t have that kind of time or those connections or frankly enough interest to sift through the thousands and thousands… and thousands of artists.

What you want is to find an emerging artist whose style you like, who speaks to themes you care about and whose work is energetic on an individual and cultural level.

Villasana's work has a brilliance about it. In both senses of the word. I have been drawn to the textiles she utilizes to enhance her subject’s vibrancy for a long time. She has a distinctive style, which is always interesting to me, when an artist really settles into a style. It can feel stagnant. But Villasana’s work never does to me.

I am interested in artists who explore history and iteration.

Iteration: the repetition of a process or utterance.

Is history an iteration of itself? Much of art certainly seems to be iteration. The way an artist can work the same patterns, the same faces, the same images over and over in repetition, seeking some understanding.

Speaking to themes that band across time and space, I am interested in the way Somi Nwandu plays with iteration. Her work has traces of process within it. I do not mean it is unfinished, still in process. Rather, I feel I can visually see her thought process, her movement through the work, her call and response with the mediums.