MUSE PROFILE : KATHERINE CHAN

Katherine Chan 

Eruditely moving through the gallery of Eileen Quinlan's work in her custom ADG Nijinsky Dress

A vintage perfume from Katherine's personal collection

Katherine Chan is a rare bird. In discussion, her razor-sharp intellect picks out words and details with tweezer-like precision, but with an empathy and openness that always grasps at the bigger ideas. She is simultaneously a serious gourmand: a deep lover of cuisine, wine and perfume, very much in-tune with the earthly delights and her senses (her blog link here). 

Pairing an empathetic intellect with the senses - perhaps this is why we love her so at ADG? She has been one of our friends since the beginning of the studio, and we are thrilled to profile her as our 3rd studio muse. She currently is a director at Miguel Abreu Gallery in the LES. We visited her at work, where she graciously gave us a tour of the latest exhibition, and answered some questions to give us a peek into her universe. 

Q. Describe your work in 10 words:
A. I work at a contemporary art gallery on the LES.

Q. Favorite drink:
A. A chilled glass of dry white wine, preferably French.

Q. Dream day:
A. Wandering through the streets of a foreign city and taking in the sounds of languages I don't understand, smells I've never encountered before, sights I've never laid my eyes on. Travel inspires me, challenges my world view, shifts my frame of reference so I can see the world anew when I return home to New York. 

Q. Current significant inspiration:
A. I'm currently in the midst of reading Rosalind Krauss's A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition on the Belgian artist, Marcel Broodthaers, whose marvelous work is currently on view in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art here in New York.

Q. 3 objects that are always in your bag (minus practicalities such as wallet, phone, keys):
A. A travel-sized bottle of perfume for refreshing during the day, chewing gum, and a pair of noise-canceling headphones that I use to shut out the chaos of the city on my daily commutes.

Q. Last visited restaurant/bar:
A. Annisa, a fantastic restaurant in the West Village run by Anita Lo, a Chinese-American chef who redefines fine French cuisine by fusing it with a global palate of flavors and textures.  

Q. Life is best with:
A. Great art, great food, and the company of great friends.

A Voyage on the North Sea
Rosalind Krauss

Marcel Broodthaers, Un Voyage en Mer du Nord 

Muse Profile: Gretchen Harnick

Gretchen Harnick is a class act and adventurer of fashion and life, two phrases that seem at odds with each other, but make perfect sense when you meet Gretchen.
We met over champagne at an event at NYC's Alliance Francaise, when she was teaching at Parsons School of Design in the Fashion department, after a 15 year career in the industry. She recently made a jump over the Atlantic to teach Fashion in the South of France (dream life change) while simultaneously launching Pattern to Plan (an emerging designer consulting agency) which recently just paired with industry innovator Not Just a Label for the Paris tradeshows.
While this may all seem like just a dream to some, Gretchen just makes this all happen with a joie de vivre and grace. She transitions through life's changes with boundless courage, elegance and style. We interviewed her to get a peek into her world. 

5 Questions

Q. Describe your work in 10 words:
A. I coach fashion entrepreneurs and students around the world.

Q. Favorite drink:
A. Champagne

Q. Dream day off:
A. Floating in the Mediterranean sea.

Q. Current major inspirations?
A. Spotify playlists, Nowness art videos, Spiritual podcasts and meditations by Tara Brach or Elizabeth Gilbert. 

Q. 3 objects that are always in your bag (minus practicalities such as wallet, phone, keys)? 
A.  2 Make Up Forever lipsticks (red and pink), hair ties, a black pen.

Gretchen at the Parsons Gala in a custom Nijinsky Dress

Looking very glamorous at Paris Fashion week 

Muse Profile: Chantal Chadwick

We are thrilled to share our first ADG Muse Profile. Through this series, we will introduce our Atelier de Geste friends, collaborators, clients and supporters to our audience. 

Chantal Chadwick is one of the most inspiring people we know. She seems to constantly innovate herself, her life and her work. It is this inner force and commitment to constantly growing creatively that drew us to be friends with her many years ago. She is currently a partner at Assortment Agency, a creative agency founded by her partner Chelsey Bingham, and is an active movement artist, gourmand and music lover based in Los Angeles. 

5 Questions: 

Q. Describe your work in 10 words: 
A. Live, observe, listen, contemplate, create again and again and again

Q. Favorite drink? 
A. I can't get my day started without a warm beverage—I have a few on rotation, but my current favorite is homemade cashew milk, matcha powder, pine pollen, green adaptogen powder (suma, chlorella, and maca), a spoonful of raw honey and some hot water blended up in the vitamix 'till smooth & steamy

Q. Dream day off? 
A. The idea of a day off gives me anxiety

Q. Current major inspiration sans genre?
A. Mexico City & Deep Techno

Q. 3 objects that are always in your bag (minus practicalities)?  
A. I'm really a minimalist, so I tend to carry only the practicalities plus my Nars lip pencil in Red Square and always a pen. 

Chantal Chadwick 

Chantal warming up for All Blues, our performance at BAC, wearing custom Leotard Top and Tuxedo Trousers

Chantal improvising in the Line & Fin Dress

January's Intentions

There is something spectacular and frightening about the freshness of the number 1: a blank canvas, the mark of a beginning, the smell of possibility. The year awaits like a big chunk of clay, ready to be molded and formed. Ready to mold new material into a better form. Potential kinetic energy. 

This year feels particularly meaningful to me as I enter into year 3 of Atelier de Geste. 3 is whole, it seems to mark a cycle. 

Here are 12 intentions I would like to set for this year. 

1. Enjoy mornings, keep the first golden 30 minutes to stretch, focus and get into a good space
2. Submit ADG for institutional support and mentorship
3. Confront my weakest muscle: numbers. Balance the books every week to reach goals, use Mint every week, and look at metrics
4. Sundays are for the soul: love, friends & family, art, nourish the spirit
5. Continue to support and develop my creative community of designers, artists and performers
6. Work is over at 8:30PM unless there is a deadline. Phone is on auto do-not-disturb mode from 10PM-7:30AM
7. Embed 1 hour of work that I love doing every day into the schedule
8. Continue the much-loved Open Studios to connect directly with clients
9. Rehearsal every week. Perform every 6 months
10. Health is Wealth: swim, yoga, dance
11. Ritual Salad Lunch (weekly 30 minute grocery trips make 5-minute-prep salad lunches that are my power-fuel-break in the middle of a busy day) 
12. Develop more Objects

Michel Francois, Untitled, 2006, Silver leaf and clay, Collection Axel Vervoordt

Rudolf Laban, Traces of Dance, 1926