Malene Barnett

Malene Djenaba Barnett is an award winning multidisciplinary artist, textile designer, and community builder based in Brooklyn , New York. Malene kicks off the conversation talking about the many things that bring her joy from walking on a sunny day , to winning an award to doing her creative practices. Ed , Leyden and Malene do a deep dive on joy , inspiration and happinessMelanie tells her origin story which started making Mud pies when she was 5 and at 8 was picked for an art program at 8 years old.. She started painting portraits , playing violin and piano.. Most of her friends early on were white girls . In 10th grade she started doing self portraits, started listening to hip hop which started her culture awakening.. The conversation turns to racism and its effects of black artists and in particular to Leyden and Malene.. Malene talks about the hoops she has to jump through as a black artistEd mentioned that they are pioneers which Leyden and Malene taalk about being a trigger .Leyden talks about being a gay man was more of a trigger and not to negate the effects of racism. The conversation turns to who they are in their essence. Ed talks about Joy, creativity and devotion . Leyden describes his essence as joy, richness and color. Malene describes her essence as caring and silliness and ELeyden adds warrior to Malene's essence or as Malene describes it as always showing up for her work and her journey. Malene talks about how her warrior part changed her success . She started the Black Artist and designer Guild which Leyden also is a member of . We talk about the importance of support and community as creatives and artists. The last 10 minutes Melane , Leyden and Ed reflect on the conversation we just had. Greatness, Joy and magic come up.in that part of the conversation. There is so much in here which makes it a must listen. Melanie and Leyden had a feature of their work together in April/2023 issue of Architectural DigestSubscribe to our podcast. . Check out Malene at https://www.malenebarnett.com/