54 WSJ. MAGAZINEEDITOR’S LETTERILLUSTRATION BY ALEJANDRO CARDENASSIGN OF THE TIMES Anubis (in Balenciaga) and Who wear VR headsets to watch Bast strut the catwalk at a virtual Balenciaga fashion show.SPACE ODYSSEY
S
UCCESS IS SOMETIMESa matter of fi nding—or
making—a space for oneself. As one of the
most infl uential model-activists of her gen-
eration, our cover star, Ashley Graham, has
learned to turn prejudice into opportunity. When
one modeling agency closed a curvy division, she
pitched herself to a rival agency and joined its ros-
ter. When she couldn’t fi nd bras that fi t, she worked
with a lingerie company to design ones that did. As
her body-positivity message began to resonate, sud-
denly she was the one fi elding requests for runway
appearances and magazine covers. “We need to be
told no, in order to get to the next step,” says Graham,
who balances modeling with a podcast and a 1-year-
old son. Now she’s set her sights on talk-showhosting—and we wouldn’t bet against her.
For Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu,
the context in which we create and view art can
be as important as the work itself. That’s why she
moved ahead with plans to build her dream studio,
an airy, light-fi lled workspace, in Nairobi. That spa-
tial sensitivity also guided the display of her newest
exhibition, Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You
Listening?, opening in May at San Francisco’s Legion
of Honor museum. A critique of colonialism, Mutu’s
works will be scattered throughout and juxtaposed
with European works in the permanent collection.
Mutu’s creations are deeply symbolic and channel
the iconography of the Virgin Mary and the trauma of
British colonial rule. “Things that I react to strongly,I don’t question,” she says. “I just go for them.”
For nearly a year, New York City architect Annabelle
Selldorf has been living on a forested island off the
coast of Maine, separated from the city she loves and
a Greenwich Village apartment that captures her
unique sense of style. Known for being an artist’s
architect, she’s drawn to rooms and designs—marble
fl oors, Chinese furniture, modern art—that stimulate
the mind while maintaining a sense of calm. “I like to
create space,” Selldorf says. “In some ways it’s about
doing less, rather than doing more.”Kristina O’Neill
[email protected]
@kristina_oneill