This month, we visit Amy Bravo in her studio as she prepares for her upcoming solo show at the gallery, "Transmogrification NOW!" opening this September at the gallery.

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How would you describe your current studio?

“My current studio is actually an extension of my apartment, I’m lucky to have found a nice railroad space that can accommodate my painting practice easily, and then I try to do my sculpture work outside the home because it’s just too loud and messy and fume-y. But I love having part of my studio at home, it gives me a level of flexibility that makes my life really fluid and when I’m not working right up to a deadline it’s really nice to kind of go at my own pace in there, just float in, work a bit, maybe go on a walk, come back. And I can stay in the studio much later than I usually would. My previous space was at Worthless Studios, where I got some extra fabrication space to make larger, more complex sculptures. I definitely worked in a much more rigorous and structured way there. In August I’ll begin my residency at ISCP in Brooklyn for 6 months, and will move full time into a studio there to work on both painting and sculpture in the same space.”

You’re currently finalizing your upcoming show. Can you tell us more about that title and the works you’re preparing for the show?

“I’m working on my next solo, titled “Transmogrification NOW!”. In my previous shows I had really been working with the idea of being afraid to inherit some of the more challenging aspects of my ancestors, and in this next show I’m trying to embrace those parts, alchemize them into something more positive. I’ve characterized these ancestors in my previous works as particular animals/characters which not only relate to their personal histories, but also speak to their specific personalities. A rooster, a bull, a cowboy, a boxer. In my past work, I was always treating these animals/characters more like adversaries, and in “Transmogrification NOW!” I am turning into them. My figure starts to meld with theirs, and become a hybrid. The term Transmogrification means “to change or alter surprisingly with a grotesque or humorous effect”. I loved the idea of ditching the more common trope of metamorphosis for transmogrification, which seemed more ridiculous, more extreme. One minute you’re just a girl and the next minute you have a beak and wings. Now what? It feels like that sometimes, when you catch yourself doing something and you look up and realize, oh my god, I’m turning into my parents. In some ways it happens to all of us, you can’t escape it. But this show is about the idea that that inevitable transformation doesn’t have to be something you dread, you can turn it into a superpower. You can wear their identities like a costume and use them for your own agenda.

These next works I think walk the fine line between the grotesque and the humorous—I’m leaning much more heavily into sculpture with this show, and transmogrifying a lot of household objects to create strangely cobbled together automatons, part girl, part animal. Curio cabinets which start to morph into the trinkets they used to contain. The paintings have become looser as the sculptures become larger, more intense. The figures in the paintings begin feeling more like souls or spirits floating around loosely, waiting for some vessel or container to hold them.”

What kind of atmosphere do you prefer when you work? Is there anything you like to listen to/watch/read/look at etc. for inspiration?

“I have a few modes of working. When I paint/draw, I need a certain level of distraction, otherwise I’ll overthink what I’m working on. I’ll watch TV in the studio, a lot of really bad reality mostly. It’s just enough noise to keep me working in a way that feels loose, and not so intense that I need to be glued to the screen. When I’m working on sculptures, I’ll listen to music and work all around the room at once. The Sfire tracks were big for helping me get focused in the sculpture studio, I would start moving so quick and make decisions without registering what I was even doing until I was halfway through, which is the best, you really surprise yourself in those times. I also listened to a lot of Pulp, Sparks, and The Magnetic Fields while working on this show in particular. There was a few days where almost all I listened to in the studio was Music for Boys by The Suburbs.
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What tool or art supply do you find yourself to enjoy the most in working?

“In painting/drawing, it’s easily graphite. Like bad Number 2 pencils. Nothing fancy. I love how impermanent they feel on canvas, like a breath of something. In sculpture, I’m most drawn to cabinetry, and even though I hate the process of working with plaster wrap, I do end up really liking what I make with it.”

Name your favorite place for Drinks.

“Favorite drink spot is Aunt Ginnys in Ridgewood. I love getting a London Fog at Norma’s, also in Ridgewood. I love taking the ferry on days off, just for the sake of taking it, it’s 5 dollars, there’s beer, you get to be on a boat in the middle of the city, it can’t be beat.”

LISTEN.

“I am obsessed with Perfume Genius right now, the album Ugly Season makes me come up with new ideas for artwork a lot of the time. I went on a long walk listening to the song Hellbent and it inspired like 4 of this next show’s sculptures. ”