Bushwick-Based Artist Designs Work for Urban Outfitters

Maisie Broome is a multidisciplinary artist working with wood, paper, textiles, and fashion. Growing up in rural Maine, she was homeschooled and had plenty of time to cultivate a healthy imagination. Without TV to distract her she sites a phenomenon called pareidolia for inspiration, the tendency for us to find familiar patterns and figures in the world such as a rabbit in a cloud, or a face in the grain of a fallen tree.

“I was raised off the grid, deep in nature, so I think that experience has really shaped my creative practice and what I’m always working with, which is the transformational effects of pattern,” Broom told Bushwick Daily. “I think there’s something really interesting about what we see in abstract pattern and how that makes us feel or how we can be transported through that.”

Maisie went to school at the Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine where she studied conceptual art. She also studied sculpture in Southeast Asia.

Maisie works out of a studio in Bushwick for the past four years. She leases some of the space to other artists to cut down on cost. Her space evolves throughout the week depending on what medium she decides to work with.

Her technique and process is based in Turkish marbling called ebru: By using a viscous buoyant solution, she floats paint on top of it and then manipulates it to create patterns. She focuses on saturated neon psychedelic patterns and manipulating the paint to create more specific imagery.

Maisie often hosts impromptu studio visits with local artists, casually inviting people she meets to stop in for a visit. She believes in the importance of having face-to-face relationships in a time when much of who and what we see is in a form of digital media.

Maisie is in a collective with a group of designers, who have pop-ups together, share ideas, and have networking events at her space. “There are so many things that we don’t share in our curated online presence like I do freelance sculpture work for other artists, that’s how I make a living,” she explains.

As lead sculptor for Wangechi Mutu in the states, Maisie shares the team just finished a project that’s going to be outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in September. Recently, she was tapped by Urban Outfitters to create a collection of items.

“I’ve never made that many of one item,” she said.  “Just making sure everything’s the same, and perfect, and really good craftsmanship, and also making it be profitable for me.” 

After completing the Urban Outfitters project Maisie was tempted to take a break but her downtime was short-lived after she found out that she was awarded a scholarship to participate in this year’s West Coast Craft Fair in Los Angeles. This opportunity is going to gain her access to a whole new audience and one that she will get to meet in person.

While Maisie’s work continues to gain momentum she has had to persevere to see the hard work pay off, first coming down from Maine to sell clothing creations in boutiques and helping her uncle at Modern Art Foundry in Queens, casting works for Louise Bourgeois, her curiosity always keeping her keen on the next project. 

For up-and-coming artists Maisie says the most important thing is, “Take a risk and it slowly works out, it’s the New York story if you just dig in—it always works here.” 

All images courtesy of Frankie Galland for Bushwick Daily.

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