Katya Austin
interviewed by Emi
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Katya Austin is...
The closing of her last show, ECHO, featuring photos by Amelia Rose Castle, Harley Jade Walker, Karsten Theadore, Antonia Singer, Taryn Segal, Olivier Zahm, Bullet Valley, Zach Sokol, Theo Levy, Alex Hall, and Emi, marked the beginning of a brief summer hiatus before opening in a new space in the fall. Emi sat down with Katya before the opening to talk about her curatorial mission, the state of the new space, and what she’s been up to.
Hi, Emi. This week I’ve been thinking a lot about photographers—who my favorites are, who I want to include in the next show. And also what actually makes a compelling photo show. Not just good images, but how you tell a story through them—how you arrange them so there’s a current running through the room.
What were you doing right before Inanna Gallery took over your life?
I was focused on my Sunday salon, which is a reading series I host. It’s an open mic—people read poetry, play music, perform. It’s really just a space for people to share their work and meet each other. Honestly, that’s the reason I’ve been able to do the gallery. I already had this really beautiful network of creatives around me, and now I’m just formalizing that—giving it a physical space where their work can exist in a more permanent, more serious way.
If your curatorial style were a sound, what would it be?
Wind chimes. Or a singing bowl at 555 hertz. And then a crash of glass.
What’s one small detail you’re obsessed with getting right right now?
Lighting.
What kind of art did you first fall in love with?
Surrealist painting. I love anything that connects the conscious and the subconscious. The first piece in the show that’s up right now, Life Death Life, was actually gifted to me. It’s a surrealist landscape.
How do you usually describe Inanna Gallery to someone who’s never heard of it?
I describe it as a contemporary art space that melds the avant-garde underground with the institution. It’s a meeting ground—a mixing space—for people from different worlds. Tech, business, art, performance—everyone can come together and experience something collectively. It’s almost like a surreal portal, where people can leave their identities and egos at the door and just engage with what’s on the walls.
What kind of work makes you feel slightly uncomfortable, but in a way that you trust?
Work that involves new media—especially technology or AI. I think there are actually a lot of really compelling ways artists are using AI that aren’t lazy at all. It can feel avant-garde, because these are the newest tools available to us. It feels natural that creative people would want to explore them seriously.
What’s the thread that connects the artists you’re drawn to, even if it’s hard to name?
There’s definitely a thread. The easiest way to say it is that I’m the thread. But really, it’s people who are pure in their craft—people who create because they have to. There’s a compulsion. They’re channeling something and bringing it into the physical world. They’re all doing a kind of alchemy.
How do you want someone to feel in the first 30 seconds of walking into your gallery?
Slightly disarmed. A sense of wonder and awe.
I want people to feel impressed that a space like this exists, but also a sense of warmth—like they can relax and actually open themselves up to the work and to the people around them.
What are you intentionally doing differently from more established galleries?
I run the gallery Instagram like a Finsta. I’m trying to capture the present moment and honor what’s actually happening here. A lot of that means just taking pictures of the people who are here—because the space doesn’t exist without them. I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m more interested in uncovering and archiving what’s already organically happening.
Do you think a gallery should reflect culture or try to shift it?
I think that’s kind of a quantum question—the observer and the observed are intertwined. A gallery reflects what’s happening, but in doing so it also becomes a vehicle that moves culture forward. I’m making a statement about what I think is happening, and people either agree or disagree. It’s not neutral.
Five people, dead or alive, at your dinner table—who are you inviting?
Hilma af Klint, Georgia O’Keeffe, Kurt Cobain, Salvador Dalí, and..... Plato.
Which of the seven deadly sins do you relate to the most?
Vanity.
Last thing you looked up on the internet?
Locksmith near me.
What's the difference between attraction and inspiration?
Attraction is something I feel in my body and inspiration is something I feel in my soul
What role does desire play in your creative life?
Desire is like a tricky lover. The more you want her the more she runs away. I’ve found I have to embody the opposite of what I want sometimes. When I need to go fast I go slow when I go slow it takes me faster. My creative life is there to help me process the world, and I process the world to become more myself. I only desire to be the most myself I could be.
What are you currently worshipping?
I worship the sun on the roof in the morning. I worship the feeling of pen and paper. I worship my altar of love that holds the mosaic of my life. I worship the dance between the light and the dark. I worship the art of gathering in space and time. I worship the people who face the world and create in spite of the pain. I worship the cycles and I honor the patterns. I worship the Queen of Swords and the people that fill my days with their love.
What do you hope survives after you're gone?
I hope this cathedral will outlive me.
What did having your gallery on Eldridge St teach you?
I learned how important it is to have physical gathering spaces, especially in New York, especially in Manhattan, especially in the Lower East Side. This neighborhood is a magnet to me, no matter how many times I leave I always come back. But everything is so expensive nowadays, it feels like my job to be the steward of a space for gathering and sharing art and having connections. It feels like my life’s purpose.
photos from ECHO’s opening reception
What’s next?
Inanna Gallery’s physical space is closed for the summer but will reopen in the fall.
She will be in a new space where the walls are an art gallery and the center is for gathering. A space that can hold my love of throwing readings and music shows and performances and workshops and lectures surrounded by highly curated art work. Best of both worlds.
If you’re an artist and you’re interested in showing work on our walls, submit here.
If you're an event producer and you’re looking for a space to do your thing, send a proposal to katya@inanna.gallery.
If you’re reading this, I hope you’re doing well.