We recently connected with Mallory Concetta Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Mallory, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I have this thought all the time, which feels essentially like how do I spend my time the right way. I have plenty of regular jobs, my independent studio work being one of them. I think that this balance is something all creative people are trying to strike and one I am becoming more comfortable with as I get older. The idea of a person reaching an ultimate apex of their creative work is not true for me; not just in the sense of financial or commercial success, but even within self actualization or solving whatever problem your work is about. I realized it always continues and I actually like that . It’s more like shapeshifting, and growing with you until you pass it on to someone else. In a dream in my head I reach the end of wage work and can sit in my thoughts, reading and drawing and philosophizing. I indulge this a lot but try to balance it with the understanding that deep diving self reflection is a privilege that not everyone can access.

Mallory, 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?

Everything is a drawing if you look at it. A drawing is a marked surface or a curation of separate parts, or just a bunch of lines that you can see and or feel. I am interested in documenting everyday objects and thoughts the way that I think of them; sometimes zoomed in, sometimes literal, and sometimes gestures. I like to imagine all of my favorite spaces and memories as one. When you slow down and focus on one thing; a word, an image, anything, you notice more. I want to notice everything.

I derive the content of my work from everyday experiences, personal and specific and universal. Some work focuses on one or a few objects at a time while some are more zoomed out. I like to imagine all of my favorite spaces and memories as one, I like that in a drawing time can pause and the space is imaginable. In this way I can visually capture a larger otherwise ineffable connecting thread; a desire for togetherness and safety.
Images of Italian-american dinner from my childhood, a workspace tabletop covered in deli coffee, the remnants of a potluck with friends, feeding mice to our family snakes as a child or the way a man looks at you now, and a cake I’ve never had before. Millions of tables from past present and future exist in the same way in my head; real and imagined.

These references to me are cyclical and evolving in my work. The medium varies and is exactly that, a medium for the ideas to sit in. Sometimes it may start with a picture quickly taken on my phone, maybe then printed, blown up and drawn, written about, somehow butterflied. Then maybe that drawing or butterfly will become a garment, live forever in a music video I styled, or just exist forever the way it is. I am a multi-hyphenate creator with skills in printmaking (especially screenprinting and intaglio), drawing, painting, sewing and patternmaking, writing, sculpture, artbooks, music, and cooking. These skills become cumulative in my work but are also available for hire as contractor or collaborator for other projects.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think from mutual support within the community itself, including choosing collaboration and supporting others over competition. I believe there is room for everyone but only if those making it to their version of success look around them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I tend to pivot every few months, creatively and personally. I think that the past 4 years have been a gradual increase from a pivot point for me. This particular pivot point was a fall for me – it is not a unique story at the origin point, though. I planned to end my apartment lease in spring of 2020 and attend residency programs abroad for the rest of the year, from there deciding where to live and work. Obviously this was derailed, and within the context of the year is an issue to be grateful for. Now I am freelancing and still in New York. I’m still grieving this pivot point in some ways – in others I’m grateful to have been set back just enough to have to dive deeper into what I am doing and why. I think that my work since that time has become more intentional and less impulsive, my life became slower, I’m understanding my work and myself so clearly now. Every change is a gain and a loss, and I’ve explored in my work how important it is to notice both. Both exist everywhere, in every application, every relationship, every day. And that is the way we exist in the world I think :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mallory.work
• Instagram: @mallorywork @mallorylooks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mallorywork
• Other: current email address: [email protected]

Image Credits

first image credit to Corey Jermaine