Last fall, I had the honor to sit down with a woman whose artistic home has been called, “one of the most immersive, intricate vibrant, and inhabitable art installations in the [New York] city” by the NYC online arts magazine, Hyperallergic.
Her artistic designs have been the background for Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Glamour Magazine. Netflix has even featured her on their show, “Amazing Interiors” and you might also find her on various HGTV shows. Her blog, Zeitgeist, is a conglomeration of her creations and inspirations.
When I met Apryl on a blustery day over seafood in the heart of Manhattan, I was first intrigued by her accessories. Her necklace, which she told me was one of her original designs, was a myriad of shapes, textures, materials and colors all strung together in an unexpected pattern. Over her orange and black striped sweater, she wore a trench coat with Jetson’s characters marvelously painted on. Apryl’s creativity overflowed into her fashion and it was evident from the moment I met her.
In a booth in the back of the cozy Manhattan restaurant, I asked Apryl about her inspiration. She smiled and recalled her parents. She told me how her father was a minister, and watching both her parents work hard in helping professions has always motivated her. Her family had a very “Do-It-Yourself” mentality which instilled the concept of “making” deeply within her. She told me how in junior high, she dreamed of going to the Fashion Institute of Technology and at that young age taught herself to sew in order to fulfill that dream. Her hard work paid off and she attended FIT where she learned less about what rules to abide by in fashion and more about how she could break them. She also defined her working definition of creativity as, “endless freedom, no rules, and basically the wild wild West”.
So what else did Apryl learn at FIT that she’s carried with her to this day? She told me that she’s learned to find the line between people and art, then strip away the boundaries between the two. She is fascinated by asymmetry. “Symmetry is expected”, she explained. “There is an energy that comes with the unexpected in asymmetry, and I like that”.