No. 1 Pretty
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi

No. 1 Pretty is an interactive installation by Harlem-based artist Aya Rodriguez-Izumi. Rodriguez-Izumi invites viewers to pass through a cascade of tinsel along a pathway to a small, circular enclosure. Inside, participants will receive a nail salon experience while being prompted to reveal intimate information. The artist performs as both nail artist and confidant, creating a unique work of art on a finger nail while providing participants with a brief, quiet moment of introspection. This confessional booth-cum-nail salon is transformative environment that underscores the intimate rituals we perform in our day-to-day lives.

About the Artist
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi was born in Okinawa, Japan and was raised splitting her time between Okinawa and Harlem. She received a BFA from Parsons in 2009 and an MFA from The School of Visual Arts in 2017. Her work has been shown in exhibitions at El Museo del Barrio, RUSH Gallery, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, the University of Pittsburgh, Space Heater Gallery, and Knockdown Center along with projects in conjunction with PULSE Contemporary Art Fair, FLUX Art Fair, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, among many others. Rodriguez-Izumi is a current fellow of the A.I.R. Gallery in DUMBO, Brooklyn where she is preparing for her spring 2018 solo exhibition Project Iceberg. Aya Rodriguez-Izumi can also be followed on Instagram.

About the Curator
Life Lessons is a curatorial support structure. They set up conversations about doubt, anxiety, routine, and self-care through contemporary art. Their exhibitions and projects are not didactic, they promise. They take great care in leaving room for someone else, because they know that no one can exist on an island. All of this comes out of failure and uncertainty, forever “out for delivery,” and that requires a loss of ego. The New York Times is not about to write about magic, but Life Lessons is open to the idea. They’re still working on it, and overthinking it, but Life Lessons is for immediate release. They thrive on the unknown and play Truth or Dare at every party. Life Lessons comments on life, but is not life.