BREAKING BARRIERS

Lumia Nocito photographs Art Hoe Collective founder Gabrielle Richardson.

Photo Lumia Nocito
Style Harper Slate
Make-up Slater Stanley
Featuring: Michael Banks
Assisted by Sophie Hur and Samantha Riley

GABBY
I wanna talk about how I met the beautiful Lumia Nocito!

LUMIA
Yeah! We met on set for the Adidas x Urban Outfitters’ We The Future campaign shot by the lovely Petra Collins, my boo.

GABBY
I was so nervous that day because it was my first big job ever.

LUMIA
Was it?

GABBY
Well, I guess I shot the “101 Ways to Wear Gucci” before. But that day was rainy and we were inside the whole time. The Adidas shoot was outside and super high energy. I met you and thought you were amazing—you were doing flips on set. I was like, “Oh shit! Who is this?” We hung out afterwards, and then we just kept hanging out, and now we are friends.

LUMIA
And that’s how we met.

GABBY
Let me ask you— How do you feel about shooting your first cover?

LUMIA
I’m really excited. I don’t know how I got here.

GABBY
Hard work!

LUMIA
Things have moved really quickly over the past year and a half. I’m really grateful to be able to shoot the cover of DRØME. And it’s really cool that my friends get to model and style the shoot. Getting to work with young creatives is the coolest thing ever.

GABBY
Totally. How important is collaboration for you in your work?

LUMIA
For this shoot, I got to collaborate with my stylist friend for the first time.

GABBY
Ali Fribourg (Harper Slate)?

LUMIA
Yeah! I had been friends with her for a while and I hadn’t had the chance to discover her powerful, creative mind until this shoot. Collaboration really offers a space for you to appreciate the people that you like to surround yourself with.

GABBY
I think you also learn a lot about other people when you collaborate with them. Obviously we are friends, but if all we did was hang out instead of work on projects together, I feel like we wouldn’t be as close. Not only do I appreciate you as a person but I also have an appreciation for your work ethic and your vision. When you want something done, you get it the fuck done.

LUMIA
Thank you! So tell me about Art Hoe Collective.

GABBY
Some of my artist friends and I realized the only place where we could really showcase our work was online. The internet is full of amazing work by people of color, and as more and more artists are forming their own styles all over the world, the only place that connects us on an equal playing field is the internet. Art Hoe Collective also addresses the inaccessibility of the art world. It’s harder to be a queer kid trying to make art in Wisconsin than it is in New York; but if I were a queer kid trying to do what I wanted to do in Wisconsin, Art Hoe Collective would still be a space that I could be a part of.

LUMIA
Yeah. Cool. You’re the shit! Let’s talk about queerness. How do you celebrate your queer identity while in a relationship with a guy?

GABBY
I am very open with my boyfriend, Michael, and with others about my queer identity. Michael doesn’t really stick to any gender roles. He is very understanding of my queer identity and respects me as a person.

LUMIA
That’s great. So healthy. (Laughs) Anything else for the young artists?

GABBY
With all young artists, especially young queer black artists, you are going to want to give up all the time. You will think it’s not worth it. You will want to go to school and get a degree in business and think of your dream as a hobby. But your dreams aren’t hobbies. Your dreams are your dreams. And don’t give ‘em up.

LUMIA
Keep doing it.

GABBY
Yeah - keep doing it.

LUMIA
Love you.

GABBY
Love you too.