Once Upon a Time in New York

Australians watched the early stages of pandemic unfold, from a distance, in a series of chapters that were distinctly geographic. First Wuhan in China, secondly Northern Italy, and thirdly, New York. Now, whilst the majority of the United States battles the Delta variant, New York seems to have achieved the highest degree of co-existence with the virus. The euphoric optimism of the “hot vax summer” has faded but life persists, and to me, a new arrival fresh out of lockdown, the sensory overload is significant. Annika Bowker, Jemila MacEwan, and Caroline Garcia are amongst the Australian artists who remain committed to the city, following a challenging eighteen-month period in New York.

Annika Bowker’s studio is situated in the bayside neighbourhood of Red Hook. The up and coming area is characterised by its blend of shipping yards, industrial warehouses, townhouses, community gardens, craft breweries, and public housing. A goliath IKEA by the water’s edge resembles an airport terminal. Bowker’s practice blends her experience as an architectural designer with her broader material and conceptual investigations, which she explains are increasingly moving toward “stone, sound, bigger works and more metal.” The not-for-profit studio space is shared by a group of fifteen makers – a mix of furniture designers, industrial designers and woodworkers whose