Meet Lan Park | Visual Oxymoron

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lan Park and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lan, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
If you are the type of person who uses much of senses given to you, you can be overwhelmed by anything and everything.
And you are educated and trained in using those senses,
then a lot of things can inspire you. We, as designers or makers,
can be inspired by mundane things such as manhole cover in my particular case.
Being up in Hudson Valley thanks to Covid crisis opened another door for me. The sense of smell!
I love driving aimlessly in the countryside. What inspired me from the frequent trips?
The fresh cut grass smell.
Now, other than the manhole cover and ever honking cars in the city that inspired me,
I will be working on the scent. Someday.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I spent over two decades in women’s designer fashion. The last job was at Bill Blass as a divisional director. As many of us know, the fashion industry is known for the long hours, endless deadlines, and personalities.
How did I survived so long, I honestly do not know. We really did not have a downtime, nor break.
We used to go home wee hours in the morning just to wash up and come back to work again before each fashion shows.
I think it was tenacity and persistency. I am not sure whether I am proud of these characteristics i have developed.
However, they formed who I am now and helped me where I am today.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It would be Industry City in Brooklyn waterfront in Sunset Park neighbor of Brooklyn New York where my studio used to be. This facility of 6 million square feet of space has been built around 1900 and used for shipping and manufacturing ever since. We, designers and artists, started moving in as manufacturing dwindled down. It now houses the coolest design firms, design studios and food incubators and many more. Movies on rooftop during warmer months, more than enough beer parties in courtyard. It is a vast area with 6 million sq ft of space with stores, studios to visit and events. The water front with the Statue of Liberty in distance does not hurt. A great water view. A week is not enough.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The British illustrator, Ralph Steadman. Not only his quirky and unique images, but his individuality also influenced me a lot.
He said “I am not like the others” is what I live by.

Website: https://www.hudsonandkings.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hudson_and_kings/

Image Credits
Lan Park