She/Folk
Location: Brooklyn
Occupation: Arianne Keegan- writer/non-profit development
Nico Mazza- artist/hair stylist
She/Folk is a women’s creative collective that celebrates the feminine through art, culture, and story-telling founded by Arianne Keegan and Nico Mazza. She/Folk’s mission is to connect powerful and inventive women, encourage collaboration, and fuel women’s empowerment through constructive dialogue. They offer female artists of all kinds an open venue where they can share their own art and exchange ideas with one another. She/Folk is a natural extension of their belief in the amazing power of art and the creative process.
I connected with Arianne and Nico through dancer Sage Rashada who was also featured on We Choose Art in September. Immediately I got lost in their website reading honest stories from inspiring women, browsing the shop, and checking out the artist gallery. The variety of interests this collective speaks to offers something for every woman.
I asked Arianne and Nico why they choose art:
Arianne: My chosen medium of art is writing. I write down thoughts – sometimes a record of simple fragments or even solitary words that pass through my head; sometimes a bundle of sentences specifically planned, coordinated, and reworked to fill pages and pages. In any syntax words appear, they can convey meaningful stories – long and short. I choose art because through it I can share, not just with others but also with myself. I let the words come out, empty the thoughts from my head, and allow them to flow over whoever wants to feel a ripple. I think of art much like a fountain that enriches the world it spills onto.
See more of Arianne’s work here: http://shefolk.com/arianne-keegan
Nico: I’m a hair-twirler, thumb-twiddler, knuckle-cracker, and avid embroideress. My fingers are constantly moving over some surface – twisting, pulling, scraping, poking. I would call them nimble. I choose art because my fingers would harden to rock if they weren’t constantly lubricated by joint fluid. For me, art is meditation. It is timeless, limitless, and lawless. I enjoy the way tiny acts accumulate into a giant experience.
See more of Nico’s work here: http://shefolk.com/nico-mazza
You can learn more about the collective at www.shefolk.com.
