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

Kaguya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with something countless entrepreneurs have had to figure out on the fly – how have you dealt with the rise of remote work?

Starting May of this year, I had to close down my physical space of Rice Studios after running it for a year and half. It was my first time ever opening or running a studio, so that came with a lot of challenges as it was all self funded. After moving my main base to Los Angeles, CA in July of 2022 and the studio being in Bushwick (Brooklyn, NY) I had to close.
Despite my deep love for Rice Studios and the community it fostered, I ultimately had to make this tough decision in order to focus on more sustainable options.

In January of 2023, I decided to convert my apartment in an Airbnb. I wanted to create a unique and immersive experience for guests that went beyond the typical minimalist furnishings found in many rentals. Curating the installation remotely definitely came with its challenges. I’ve always had a passion for showcasing diverse and underrepresented artists, and this allowed me to continue that mission. By collaborating with local artists like Uzumaki Cepeda and Beelzebaby, I was able to fund their work and feature their creations as part of the Airbnb experience. Additionally, with the help of my loyal assistant, Stassie, we ensured that the installation reflected the vibrant artistic community that Rice Studios aimed to support.

Rice Studios is a space curated to cater to QBIPOC artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, educators, and creators. Rice has been in the works of digitizing its business and providing artists the tools and resources to gain exposure to their brand(s) / product(s). Both in real life and online with metaverse fashion.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Most people know me as P.S. Kaguya the Asian plus size, body positive model but prior to modeling I was actually a photographer going by the alias, DiDi Sea. I graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in Photography in Spring of 2015. I was mainly working in ecommerce, fine jewelry, wholesale to the diamond district and eventually started doing freelance in auction houses and a marketing company catered to Amazon businesses. Ecomm was never a part of my studies, focus or passion but it paid the bills. How did I get into modeling you ask?

It kind of came about in a turn of events and a full surprise. I never thought of myself as a model nor ever dreamt about becoming one since the industry at that time was still very reluctant in representing curve yet alone plus bodies. While I was in my senior year of college, I dabbled in figure modeling for fine artists via Craigslist just to get enough funds to fund my senior thesis. It was called “My Dynasty” where I staged and captured my friends of all backgrounds to dress in the concept of being a part of the Joseon Dynasty. By using my skills in photoshop to integrate everyone into web found historical settings. Using compositions and manipulating the captured images to my desired outcome of representing my identity as a 2nd gen, Korean American.

The origination of my name P.S. Kaguya started out as a public diary via WordPress. I was being raw, authentic essentially expressing the alter ego of myself. P.S. simply meaning post-script, as I always ended my entries with “p.s.” with some note of my overall reflection of my entries. My original name is Diana, commonly known for being the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology, and Kaguya or also known as Kaguya-hime, princess from the moon from Japanese folklore. I am also a Cancer, which is ruled by the moon, so all in all it made sense. I always had a love for anime and even with my background being Korean, my grandmother was born and raised in Japan so say the least its an homage.

It was only after my breakup in 2016, where I came out of a physically and emotionally abusive relationship that I decided to start my journey into self love. I captured a self portrait of myself on Halloween wearing a red riding hood costume that I purchased at Abracadabra and started to post on instagram. I kept on capturing portraits of myself and then started working with local photographers for PFP. Shortly after, I worked with photographer, Ryan Mcginley for his Yearbook series, where I was fully nude for the first time on camera and for everyone to see.

I have been now modeling for 6 years. A few years ago, I realized that modeling is not sustainable or consistent enough for my livelihood. So I ventured into different industries for income and in turn was able to launch Rice Studios in October of 2021. Fast forward to now where Rice is launching solely web. This platform is going to be able to help artists to express and curate on a social space with no censorship, shadow banning or being flooded with ads or being bullied. Ultimately a safe space for queer artists and entrepreneurs to showcase and self sustain with their art. There will be education courses in regards to gaining outreach in web3 spaces and making your art or 2D products into NFT(s).

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson I had to unlearn is that closing down a business is not you being a failure. Ultimately being a good boss is also knowing when things are not working and it is best to make moves that makes sense. I think also being 2nd gen, I have the guilt and the ego aspect of needing to out perform or proving to other, especially my parents, that I am doing well. But the one thing I learned from all the heartbreak and humbling process is that you have nothing to prove except to show up for yourself.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In regards resilience, I will never take “no” for an answer. If there’s a will there’s a way. I learned especially for not being accepted into the mainstream modeling industry right away until 2019 – that I am one of one. People are hesitant to accept, to turn tables, etc. when something is not familiar. But hey, that’s okay! I always think about that one quote and meme from Lady Gaga, “There can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you but all it takes is one and it just changes your whole life…” And I believe in that whole heartedly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ricestudios.space/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.s.kaguya/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_pskaguya

Image Credits
Film12 – Brandon St. Jean KK9 – Hope Glassel mso_kaguya_082922-13 – Matty So Photo Aug 16 2018, 4 24 39 PM – Rand Williams Photo May 02 2023, 11 48 06 AM (1) – Danica Carver Photo May 07 2023, 11 43 55 AM – Rochelle Brock PSKaguya_EvaZar-29 – Eva Zar