We were lucky to catch up with Christina Prudenti recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

Yes, I do wish I started my artistic career sooner. I began making art at a young age but I began making shirts around age 31.
At the time I was working front desk at a hair salon. On one of my off days, I was walking in the lower east side of nyc and stumbled upon a small Thai art gallery displaying mini canvas work of different animals.
I fell in love with the idea of mini canvases.
Instead of big canvases, I started to paint on miniature ones. I painted tiny dog portraits which lead to linoleum prints which lead to tshirts.
I thought selling shirts rather than art would be a more sustainable and lucrative business. Also, I love fashion.
Had I started earlier in life, I feel, perhaps that I’d be more established at this point.
Time is always an issue.

Christina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Queens88 is an indie company I started in 2008 that features wearable art and canvas art made by me. I was born and raised in queens ny.
At first my label was queens77, but a major clothing corp (can’t say who) opposed my trademark because of the number 77. So I changed it to 88 because my birthday is august 8.

I screen print, stencil, and hand-paint all of my own designs onto clothing giving each its own character and identity.

I feel like my website bio explains it best,

“Each design emulates unique experiences and familiar surroundings; all filled with color and commotion inspired by the pulse of the city she lives in. She pulls inspiration from all corners of life keeping her designs authentic and raw. Queens88 is based out of NYC and Miami.”

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Shop local and affordable housing. I think these are the 2 ultimate things society can do for creatives.

Many times I’ve seen an up and coming neighborhood get so expensive that is forces out the creatives that contributed to making it cool to begin with… artists, writers, musicians, etc..

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Inspiring people

It feels really good when someone tells you that you were the reason they created something new or started doing something new, etc..

It also serves as a creative outlet for me. It’s not only profitable (sometimes lol) but keeps me sane.
I believe every person needs some positive outlet to keep them mentally stable,like, art, gardening, yoga..

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.queens88.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queens88nyc/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/q88nyc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-prudenti-1aa61461?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/queens88nyc
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/b61MxubRVS4

Image Credits
None