Meet Margaret Halkin | Artist & Entrepreneur

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

Hi Margaret, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The word risk gets a bad wrap, it is steeped in fear and defined as exposure to danger. In my mind it is the exact opposite, I do not see risk as a scary thing, for me risk denotes the possibility of creating abundance, following your hearts desire and doing good work. Risk is everything and so is following your curiosity, once you find something that feeds you, listen to that, give it some respect and light, then taking a risk becomes closer to the action of keeping your momentum going rather than the feeling of stepping off of a cliff.

I realized at a very early age that whatever you want to do in this life, be it becoming an artist, entrepreneur or a doctor you must go after it with a curated form of wild abandon. If you are interested in developing an idea or pursuing a deliberate career, no one is going to step up and do it for you, no one is going to jump in the deep end with you and support your idea or desires, you have to start the ball rolling yourself and then hopefully your people will rally around you.

Being a risk taker is a balanced mixture of self confidence, tenacity and trust in the unknown, rather than fear of the unknown. You must have the perseverance to dig in, never give up and do the work to the best of your ability to make it happen. Along the way if you pay attention, little things will pop up to help you step by step, often times you start out following one path only to be lead to another direction that is even better than what you had imagined.

Everything I have gone after in my life has stemmed from taking a risk, and the belief in myself to be able to achieve what I had set my mind to do. I owe all of my success and mistakes, personally and professionally to risk taking. You have got to make that initial move and trust that it risk is not dangerous, it is an adventure, it does not mean you wont get hurt, but taking a chance is far better than doing nothing and way more exciting!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My story is a mixture of perseverance, positive can do attitude and never giving up on an idea. I am a conceptual thinker, with an abstract bend. I am a self taught artist and a creative individual, a trial by fire, risk taking, self reliant woman with an entrepreneurial mind set.

I have spent a lifetime pursuing my curiosities, mostly in the arts, entertainment and media industry. When I become enthusiastic about a topic, art form or career path, I pay attention to that feeling and I explore it in a variety of ways. If the idea is feasible and rooted in sound possibility, I might try to develop it into a way to make a living.

Such was the creation of the HALKIN (ART) brand. I have always enjoyed fashion, it is a delicious art form, yet I do not consider myself to be a fashion designer, I think of myself as an artist that designs with her art on clothing a medium better known as wearable art or art wear.

As a mixed media artist, the idea for art-wear came from the desire to wear something that was original and not mass produced. So I began to up-cycle clothing from my own closet. I started to create abstract patterns and transfer my street photography images onto jackets and t shirts. The process of hand painting is time consuming and I thought it would be great to offer a version the original pieces on an e-commerce store, thus the store is born.

The prints on the garments in the HALKINART store are a mash-up from my photography, mixed media paintings and one off pieces of art wear. No two all over prints will be the same, the artwork changes as I add it to each piece. What started out as a painting or photograph can be manipulated into endless variations of the original artwork, creating endless print designs.

Inspired by urban street scenes, rock & roll, classic muscle cars, elements from our natural world and the lines and forms of architecture, the work tends to lean towards the abstract with a dash of subversive context.  The designs are UNISEX in concept, I think it is really important to give people permission to dress how ever they want to, after all fashion is a costume, so one should feel free to express themselves no mater what their gender.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Friday nights LACMA jazz is one of the best spots in the city to get a clear taste of the authentic cultural melting pot that LA is, I love going for the music and the people watching!

I would say that the Mexican food in LA is outstanding and one of my favorite spots is Cactus Taqueria, fortunately they have locations throughout the city!

One of the best things about living in LA is the endless amount of free outdoor activities, seriously it is a hikers and swimmers dream come true, throw a dart at the map and you will probably hit a place where you can hike to a swimming spot!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is a hard question for me, I have done all of the work on my own, with little to no support, I have reached out to people but have been met with disinterest. So I am digging very deep to find someone that has gone out of their way to be supportive or help me in starting the e-commerce store.

I would have to say the most encouragement I have received has been from Foroozan Shirghani, her positive feedback on my artwork and the store has been really nice and greatly appreciated!!!

Website: halkinart.com

Other: My e-commerce halkinart site will launch in a week.

Image Credits
Model: Jemima Cashman