1 – Can you introduce yourself? What do you do?
Luz: My name is Luz Angélica Fernández, I’m a NYC based multidisciplinary artist, designer, and bartender / rave bar manager. In my personal body of work I combine painting, sculpture, and lighting, currently working on commissioned pieces and in-home LED light installations. As a co-founder of HECHA / 做 I focus on the design and production management of the brand as well as paint the fabric used for the garments. I bartend at Nowadays but pre-pandemic I was also bar managing for UNTER and working several parties and festivals that I’m hoping to resume someday in the future.
Ting: haii, my name is ting 丁汀 and i’m a statistical analyst, visual designer and the other co-founder of HECHA / 做. i mostly focus on the marketing/commercialization of our brand through an “empathy-driven” business model; committed to sustainability and the restandardization of industry standards.
2. Are you employed?
L: Yes, I’m super thankful to still be employed at Nowadays after the two closures and reopenings this past year! I’m also technically self-employed as an artist and through HECHA / 做.
T: I recently left my day job as an online marketer, after working for nearly a decade in the tech-startup sphere. i’m very fortunate and grateful to be able to transition my skill sets towards more freelance projects, in addition to spending more time on HECHA / 做.
3. If yes, how did you find your job?
L: I started working at Nowadays in 2019 through a friend who used to work there that recommended I get in touch when I was looking for more bar work. As for my art and design work, I started selling paintings in 2016 after my first solo show as well as founded HECHA / 做 with Ting that same year once we realized we had similar ideas and wanted to collaborate on something together.
T: i ‘good-azned’ it and went to business school. this ultimately led me into a hyper-capitalist technocratic role, from which i’m still emotionally recovering from. however, i do not regret my years in the field/trenches (business = modern warfare), as i’ve learned how NOT to run a business (algorithmically & detached) and the importance of approaching things with more human/context/care, especially in relation to HECHA / 做.
4. Any hobbies?
L: What is a hobby even? Something I do in my spare/leisure time? What is leisure time? Lol I don’t do that, I’m not sure I have much of a work-life separation. In the past I would have considered painting, sewing, experimenting with lighting, and making things in general as my hobbies but I see them more as my work now that I’ve admitted to myself that I’m an “Artist.” Other than those I could say my hobbies include writing, cooking when I have the energy, collecting cute objects, tending to the plants in my studio, and djing to myself.
T: Since leaving the M-F ‘work week’, i’ve been able to integrate and find an enjoyable work-leisure unity (Henry Lefebvre coins this the concept of ~everyday life~). and in my everyday life, i’ve been re-connecting with my chinese roots (learning the language & history), writing some words and consciously de-accelerating.
5. Where can people find out about you?
L & T: HECHA / 做 site / HECHA / 做 IG / Make Techno Black Again / MTBA IG
L: You can see my artwork on my website and contact me there for installs or commissions. I’m also on instagram as @pocketlu and will probably start using my twitter and tiktok accounts more soon as well
T: Ngl, coming from a digital advertising background has rly shifted my relationship with the internet/social media/data privacy but instagram / email tend to suffice.
6. What other links or resources would you recommend us to check out?
L & T: You can check out our HECHA / 做 project page for a list of all our past collaborations and the resource page for Make Techno Black Again, a project we power in collaboration with theorist and artist DeForrest Brown, Jr.
7. Any upcoming plans?
L & T: Next up for HECHA / 做 are Spring/Summer hand-painted bucket hats as we’re focusing on finishing our current stock of fabrics. In order to actively avoid contributing to the production and consumption of new/raw materials, we won’t be purchasing any more and will make use of deadstock fabrics as well as upcycling/altering existing garments that may otherwise go to waste.
L: My personal upcoming plans are to work on a collection of light boxes and plexiglass LED light paintings and to eventually launch a virtual gallery space called digi-gallery. For this summer specifically, my partner Kiddo and I are going to put together a mix of the music we listen to driving to and from the beach.
T: Mostly trying to take a step at a time in this time of transition / between cycles but i am looking forward to further explorations in my journey to the east (東遊記), along with afro-sino possibilities with my partner, DeForrest.
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Access Hecha’s new anti-green sheen Zine II here
The AGS Zine II seeks to combat the trend of ‘greenwashing’ by empowering consumers with creative ways to reimagine daily habits towards a slower, more sustained way of life. This issue features 18 contributors, including various guides and skill shares (ie. meditating with trees, guerrilla gardening, paper making, natural dyeing w/flowers), an “eco-phonic” mix of hi-tech rhythm and soul by Speaker Music // DeForrest Brown, Jr. [Make Techno Black Again, Planet Mu], along with personal essays and poems.
