For Polish photographer Anna Bloda, her greatest muses come from the community of artists that color her life. In a place like New York City, why just turn to celebrities for inspiration when there's a neverending cast of characters with interesting stories, perspectives and visions?
To capture their aura and dive deeper into their minds, Bloda photographed and interviewed her six muses for PAPER, including dancer and performer Alaïa, musicians Bangs and Ev Christensen, model and artist Georgie Williamson, DJ and nightlife producer Pauli Cakes and actor Sophia Ventrone. How do they express love, what does fashion mean to them and what color are their souls?
See all their photos and find out how they answered, below.
Alaïa
How do you express self-love?
Through my art. Seriously. There’s no greater act of self-love for me than being on stage. When I’m performing I’m tuned-in, hyperaware, eternal — like a panther, surrounded by a hungry crowd. The exchange of energy I feel is totally unparalleled. They feed off my vulnerability and, in turn, I am able to release it. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s my version of therapy.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Ideally, a 15-minute yoga flow or a stretch and a freshly brewed cup of coffee from my French press. Regularly, I hide in my big hat and shades and crawl out for a bagel from Kossar’s.
Do you remember your dreams?
I used to! I’ve always been big on symbolism and premonitions, so I’ve even attempted to keep a journal and decipher them. Recently though, with how exhausted I’ve been, I don’t have much time to sleep. So whenever I do it’s all black, very deep and almost like a coma.
What is your dream?
To leave a legacy. To grow old with my friends. To preserve my joie de vivre.
Do you wear red lipstick?
Yes, but a very specific shade of red, like a mahogany or a blood with blue undertones. Although I’ve always dreamt of being the girl from the pin-up poster (thank you Dita), that vintage scarlet red just washes me out. My go-to is by Yves Saint Laurent called “Rouge Pur Couture.”
Do you talk to your plants?
I think I inherited from my mother — neither of us have green fingers. I get very excited over plants and especially flowers. I find them to be one of nature’s most exquisite creations. I want them to always remain in my sight, so I keep bringing new ones to my place. But I’m never good at taking care of them long-term. Maybe talking to them would help.
Why do people need fashion?
If you don’t have a sense of style, it usually tells me you aren’t attuned to your voice. It’s like an opinion: we don’t have to agree on it, but you ought to have one.
What does fashion mean to you?
It’s always been a form of rebellion for me. I don’t think of myself as attached to any particular style or era, I like to experiment and be all over the place with my references. I strictly only wear vintage and make exceptions for my friends’ designs. As an athlete with a more muscular build, my biggest draw is the way a garment fits. It has to streamline and highlight my features. I want to feel sexy, like eye candy.
Do you modify your clothes?
For my 18th birthday I got myself a sewing machine, but never learned my way around it. I don’t have the patience and I’m not dexterous like that, but I do have an eye for styling. Throw me a pair of scissors, a belt and some fabric and I’ll create the fantasy. I love to put things where they weren’t intended.
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
Absolutely! There’s nothing I’m more guilty of than being lazy and leaving my house in sweats and sneakers. The dolls can relate — it’s either 100% or nothing! I just blame it on my job.
What color is your soul?
Blue. It’s always hypnotized me. I’ve implemented it into most of my work and think about it often. It’s even featured in a solo I made for the show I’m currently in (Cabaret on Broadway). It’s very dramatic and nuanced, and of course melancholic. I think a lot of artists gravitate to it: Picasso had a phase, Yves Klein made a name from it. I’ve also been told that it compliments my eyes.Bangs
How do you express self-love?
I express self-love through taking the time to check in with myself, seeing what my soul needs and keeping proper boundaries in my life to respect that.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
The first thing I do when I wake up is... check my phone, ugh, I hate that. Sometimes I will be good and journal. I have a nice morning routine, the only problem is I hate routines.
Do you remember your dreams?
Most of the time. They are funky.
What is your dream?
My dreams when I sleep are all over the place. My dreams in real life are to succeed at what lights my heart on fire.
Do you wear red lipstick?
Occasionally.
Do you talk to your plants?
No, I actually don't have any.
Why do people need fashion?
People need to show who they are. I also love when people evolve and start dressing differently, that's sort of my story. I'm very extreme with my fashion choices.
What does fashion mean to you?
Being rebellious and standing out. I like attention and I like when people think they know everything about me by the way I dress. Most of the time they are wrong.
Do you modify your clothes?
A little. I have a friend that works at Gothic Renaissance in NYC and she will cut my clothes, sew on new parts... it's sick.
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
In my house. If I don't go anywhere I usually wear men’s boxers.
What color is your soul?
I love black, but I'm gonna say white.
Ev Christensen
How do you express self-love?
Going to 7-Eleven alone.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
Go back to my apartment.
Do you remember your dreams?
I often remember my dreams and think that the dreams took place in reality. Recently I’ve been having very realistic uncanny dreams where I’m at dinner with my friends or talking on the phone.
What is your dream?
I would love to do scoring for a movie. Like Planet of the Apes or something. Or acting.
Do you wear red lipstick?
Chanel. Or Revlon.
Do you talk to your plants?
Yes, and they don’t understand what I’m saying, and that’s fine. Flora has its own language. My friend was telling me about how trees essentially talk to each other through underground networks so I hope they have good things to say about me.
Why do people need fashion?
‘Cause Eve ate the apple.
What does fashion mean to you?
Making your body look like your brain.
Do you modify your clothes?
Accidentally. I used to alternate between these two frontier era fur pieces that I would drape on my body and go out in, but they are unrecognizable now. Vintage transforms on your body as it falls apart.
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
A lot of the time! It’s just as much fun as being fashionable.
What color is your soul?
Like green. Been listening to a lot of Sublime recently.
Georgie Williamson
How do you express self-love?
Whenever I pick up my sketchbook, even if I am simply flipping through the pages, it is a time of self love for me. It is an honest reflection of my internal thoughts and feelings. This ritual I have of looking and drawing in my sketchbook is time that I take for myself to reflect, think and feel.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
Well, if I am waking up next to somebody else, but on the days that nobody is there then I think about everything I want to accomplish that day. Then I’m quickly faced with the reality that I probably won’t follow through with everything I want to do. So I eventually just pick a couple and make sure I get them done.
Do you remember your dreams?
I rarely remember my dreams, for the longest time I thought that I couldn’t remember my dreams at all. I don’t think I had my first dream until I was 13 years old. Up until that point I thought everyone else was making it up. However recently I just had a horrible nightmare and I remember that one. I can’t believe that most people have experiences like that every night.
What is your dream?
My dream for my future is to open an art gallery that can be a place where people can create, learn and feel. I’m not certain on the location, I have slowly been saving up as much money as I can so I will be able to fund a space as soon as possible.
Do you wear red lipstick?
No, red doesn’t really compliment my skin tone, but on occasion my face will be covered in lipstick regardless.
Do you talk to your plants?
Yes, absolutely, although it’s less that I’m talking directly to my plants and more so that when I’m alone with my plants I am free to carry out my internal monologue externally
Why do people need fashion?
I think there’s a multitude of reasons that people need fashion. The origin of clothing was largely utilitarian, but it is only natural that now people will wear clothes because they want to. People need fashion because it allows them to feel more in touch with themselves and express who they truly are. When silk slides over my skin, I know who I am.
What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion allows me to communicate passively who I am. When people first see me, they look because I am tall and whatnot, but then they notice my clothes and have a much clearer picture of my soul.
Do you modify your clothes?
Often, whenever my clothing feels like it does not match the message that I try to convey it will be altered until it does so. I often paint, cut and patch my clothes until they feel more like myself.
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
Strictly in a what am I wearing sense, no, I always hold myself to very high standards of what I’m wearing. My pajamas are carefully selected, so that if I have to evacuate my home in the middle of the night, people still know who I am.
What color is your soul?
I have been told my soul is gray, but I like to think that it is closer to the color of the sky at dawn, the in-between of day and night. I think that describes my soul very well, much like gray, the essence of in between.
Pauli Cakes
How do you express self-love?
To me love is a verb, I express self-love by being real with myself. By doing and being kind to the people in my life, expressing gratitude, reflecting on my actions and giving thanks. I express self-love by prioritizing pleasure and care for myself, by moving with mindfulness and self-awareness and by being kind to nature and remembering that I’m connected to the world around me so the way I treat others and the earth is a reflection of the love I have for myself.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
The first thing I do when I wake up is open my eyes, breathe and process my dreams.
Do you remember your dreams?
I actually do, or I try to, I’m a very vivid dreamer. When I believe my dream is precognitive or that I’m being visited by a spirit or specific energy I try to write my dreams down.
What is your dream?
My dream is for there to be peace on Earth and a complete abolition of state, police, borders and capitalism. I dream of a world with no war and no violence. Where everyone’s basic needs are met and the Earth is respected. I dream of liberation for all oppressed people and nations worldwide.
Do you wear red lipstick?
Sometimes!
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
I still make my worst days fashion. I think I’m always fashionable to someone!
Do you talk to your plants?
I do.
Why do people need fashion?
Clothing is such an important form of radical self-expression and identity expression. It’s a symbiotic relationship: people need fashion and fashion needs people. Less fast fashion and more self-expression. To me my fashion is like my armor, and I get to decide which layer of my identity I’d like to activate.
What does fashion mean to you?
Everything, the way I express myself through the jewelry and clothing is very important to me and even if everything was taken from me I’d still find a way to express myself fashionably.
What color is your soul?
Ever-changing, like a mood ring, but today violet with a blue effervescent ring of light.
Sophia Ventrone
How do you express self-love?
By honoring my dreams. But in a ritualistic sense, I take tons of candle-lit Cleopatra baths accompanied by classical music. Cleopatra baths are basically hot milk baths infused with rose petals and essential oils like rosemary and lavender. Also, skincare!
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
I usually wake up to my Pomeranian, Pacino, climbing on my chest for kisses. So giving him love is usually the first thing I do each morning.
Do you remember your dreams?
Yes, vividly. Sometimes they even come true.
What is your dream?
To help women and people in general feel seen and less alone through my art. I love performing and writing. Making movies with amazing like-minded individuals has to be my favorite thing to do.
Do you wear red lipstick?
Sometimes. I mainly wear a lot of red lip liner. It’s such a sexy look!
Do you talk to your plants?
I actually sing lullabies to mine.
Why do people need fashion?
We need to dress ourselves to go out in the world everyday by law. So, I look at it as the one chance we’re technically required a day to creatively express ourselves. I think it’s a crucial form of daily self-expression for me.
What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion = empowerment. I find it so beautiful that putting in the right outfit can alter my energy and mood. Getting myself ready every day feels like playing dress-up... I love building characters and personalities through the looks I put together for myself.
Do you modify your clothes?
Yes! I am a huge believer in DIY modifications. One of my favorite articles of clothing I own right now is this Levi’s vintage denim mini skirt I made myself. I thrifted this oversized pair of men’s Levi’s. After wearing them for about a year, I chopped the legs off and turned it into the cutest mini skirt. The first time we met I was actually wearing it and you complimented it.
Are you unfashionable sometimes?
Hm, that’s so subjective... I guess? But ”not slaying” can be an ironic slay if you let it be. I think so much of being fashionable and truly slaying has more to do with your attitude than what you have on your body. For instance, so many people in the press said Marilyn Monroe was only beautiful and sexy because of the glamorous clothes she was always wearing. Following those comments, that Gemini queen did a photoshoot in a f**king potato sack. And slayed. And it ended up being my most favorite and iconic Halloween costume ever. But that goes to say, it’s all in the attitude.
What color is your soul?
I don’t know if it’s a color. When I close my eyes and think about it, I see stars above all. So, I feel like it shines really really brightly. So maybe it’s just blinding white?
Photography: Anna Bloda
