Meet Eden Chinn — The Bright & Beautiful Artist, Curator and Educator From the Big Apple
Estimated Time of Arrival — Issue #26 Not everything is for everyone, the challenge of being truly vulnerable and giving yourself the space you give to others.
Morning angel face,
Have you drank a whole glass of water yet?
Welcome to E.T.A.H, your Wednesday newsletter where yours truly, Paula Romeu-Garcia, introduces the hottest artists from around the world and asks them uncomfortable questions…
🎙️ LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW ON SPOTIFY 🎧
(Also, there’s a very “real” broken bong moment at the end).
When Eden and I met, it was love at first swipe.
A match made in…the algorithm.
But as real and beautiful as if we’d shyly spotted each other across the bookshelves of an independent bookstore and dared to converse.
We’re still getting to know each other but we’ve shared a few moments that have felt like slow rays of sunshine in this ever-racy New York jungle.
The other day, we shared an intimate morning that transported me to my childhood. Before she took some portraits of me*, she did my make-up. So gently yet expertly.
Shadows of a beloved cousin whom I no longer have a relationship with appeared on her face; in the way her lips parted, or her green eyes glistened or her hands moved brushing my skin.
Like a second chance; a healing projection.
I felt so safe and cared for in her presence. A femme photographer is such a treat! She made me at ease when I trembled dreading her Canon’s click.
But hey, we did a thing!
*And you’re gonna see the results very soon. With my face plastered on a wall advert in Williamsburg promoting Estimated Time of Arrival.
Yay!
Here’s a sneaky peek (and some very real divorce tears).
Gorgeous, talented, with a smile that’d melt your heart. I’m delighted to introduce Eden Chinn, artist, curator and educator as our next guest at E.T.A.H.
The whole interview, with more sex, drugs and rock and roll
🎙️ ONLY ON SPOTIFY 🎧
What are you most looking forward to in the next 30 days?
Making.
Making what?
Making art, working on collaborative projects with people and looking inward to reconnect to a more intuitive process of making.
For context, I’ve been teaching a lot over the past couple of years, I've been curating and helping to produce other people's projects a lot of which I find very inspiring.
But I want to give myself the space I've been giving to other people and renegotiate that relationship to my own creativity.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Not everything is for everyone.
I was taking a photography class in college and after a really rough critique, I spoke to one of my classmates about the feedback I received.
She said that and it stuck with me.
One person can’t make work for all possible audiences. It’s also a message that translates to life more broadly; it’s such a fundamental need to feel understood but I accept not everyone will.
What bugs you about the world around you but feel we're not allowed to talk about? Or we're not talking about enough?
It’s really hard for people to be vulnerable with each other.
It’s easy to talk about a lot of different issues in a removed way and to intellectualize them, but to really connect with people from an emotional place it’s really challenging.
I'm working on trying to be present and not letting my defences come up when I'm faced with moments of vulnerability and also trying to accept that I don't have to explain everything.
Describe the world today in 5 words or less.
Daunting, inspiring, big and small.
What’s a secret ingredient that makes everything better?
Movement.
What’s the last film or series that moved you? And why? (It doesn’t have to be your favourite, just that made you feel something and what)
It's brilliant. There was something so like deeply romantic about the movie but at the same time, it wasn’t corny.
I'm also in the early stages of a project right now that is a kind of graphic novel, using photography to explore alternate timelines and relationships. There's one couple, but we explore through various iterations of the story what “could have been”. Past Lives, was incredibly inspiring for that.
Self-promo station! Go to town! — What are you working on right now? Where can people check out your work?
I'm a co-founder of a cooperatively owned, multimedia gallery space in the Lower East Side in Manhattan called All Street.
We’ve been up 2 years and there are about 10 of us now that have formed this amazing and strong creative community.
We put on fine art exhibitions, short film screenings, intimate concerts, stand-up comedy…. you name it.
It's called All Street and the website is ALLSTNYC.
What artist/s do you love and wish them even more success in their field?
Ciaran Short, one of the co-founders of All Street Gallery — He is an absolute powerhouse. He’s given me so much courage to follow my dreams and never think that anything is too much or too big.
Jabari Butler, but he goes by Abe the Kid — He's a musician. He just came out with an album called Darling Child over the summer. It’s incredible work and I love how he does everything himself (music, lyrics, production!)
Milo Hume — He's such a friggin cool person, but he also makes beautiful music videos. Videographer, director, editor. Jack of all trades ❤️
If you had one message to share with the world what would it be?
Cherish each other.
Kickstarter update:
We (sorta unexpectedly!) raised $10,871 to make our film and fell short of 1k. Success or failure? I’ll leave it up to you to decide.
All donors got refunded, yet we were soooooo close.
I’m gonna be writing about it on Medium while I figure out how to persuade all the donors to donate again privately and make. this. film. happen.
Keep believing and flowing.
Anything’s possible.
Paula x