Obsessions
5 things I'm Coveting.
Another week, another installment of 5 Things I’m Coveting.
I’m not going to lie—Maycember is very real. As a friend said to me recently, it feels like we’re all trying to get everything done before it gets too busy… except we’re already in the busy.
So this little constellation of art, design, food, interiors, and beautiful obsessions has become a kind of reprieve for me. A pause. A moment to look, to feel inspired, and to remember why I’m drawn to all of this in the first place.
Night Gallery is debuting a solo presentation of new paintings by Los Angeles–based artist Hayley Barker at Frieze New York, and I keep coming back to her work.
I especially love how she paints through windows—everything feels like a snapshot of memory, like you’re looking at a moment that’s already passed but still lingering. I didn’t realize this at first, but she actually works from her own photographs. It’s not about recreating what she sees, though—it’s about what stays with her (which I love).
The paintings feel slow and layered, almost like quiet meditations on being alone, being present, and that subtle connection between people, animals, and place. There’s something about the way she captures light—wherever she is—that sits somewhere between memory and reality.
And it’s always the smallest details that get me: a slightly crooked window, a horse just standing there at dusk. It makes you realize how even the most ordinary moments can feel kind of profound.
I’m really hoping to get up to Palm Beach to catch Shelter by Danielle Mckinney at the Norton. It’s a collection of her work from the past six years, and I can already tell it’s the kind of show you want to experience in person.
Her paintings feel deeply intimate. The subjects—almost always women—are captured in these quiet, private moments… reading, resting, just being. There’s something very emotional about them—you can almost feel the tension sitting on the canvas. They’re present, but at the same time feel slightly removed, like they’re living in their own interior world.
I’m especially drawn to the way she handles light and darkness. There’s a softness to the light, but also these deep, shadowy tones that make the work feel layered—like there are stories beneath the surface you’re not fully being let into.
It all feels very quiet, but also incredibly powerful.
Another show I wish I could see in person is Mineral Meridian by Heath Wae at Carvalho in New York.
Dreamy, atmospheric where everything dissolves into each other in a fluid way… Its botanical abstraction is filled with emotion and carries more of a feeling than of an image. What I also found really interesting is how Wae actually makes the work. He uses distilled, hand-foraged materials—so the paintings aren’t just about nature, they’re literally made from it. The pigments still carry something of their origin, which gives the surfaces this depth and quiet intensity you can almost feel. Unreal!
Dreaming of summer getaways… or honestly, just moving in permanently.
I came across the Atlantic Club in Comporta, Portugal, and it’s one of those places that makes you pause for a second and imagine a completely different pace of life.
It’s a private residential club designed by Jacques Grange and Madison Cox, envisioned by Dietrich E. Rogge, and it’s opening this year. The setting alone is kind of incredible—over 15 hectares of land with views of the Atlantic Ocean, rice fields, and pine forests. It feels wild and expansive, but still very considered, especially with the landscape designed by Madison Cox.
Grange described it as being “in the same spirit as my house,” which tells you everything you need to know—it’s understated, personal, and quietly luxurious.
The villas range from four-bedroom homes around 300 m² to much larger eight-bedroom residences, all with private gardens, pools, and generous outdoor spaces. It’s that indoor-outdoor, barefoot kind of living that Comporta does so well.
Very much in my one day… folder.
Lastly, On the opposite end of the spectrum—but somehow connected—is Solid Wiggles. Founded in 2020 by pastry chef Jena Derman and mixologist Jack Schramm, these gelatin cakes are pure joy. Playful, wobbly, a little surreal. Somewhere between a childhood memory and a design object.
That humor and sophistication can coexist so effortlessly. I’m kind of obsessed.
