British artist Poppy de Villeneuve, one of New York’s brightest rising art stars, chats with ASM about tree houses, Staten Island and her new photography show You Are Everywhere, which opens at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan on May 20th.

What was the inspiration behind your new (photography) show You Are Everywhere?

I did a series last year at the music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties and was blown away by people’s sense of awe and being taken over by music. I wanted to do this again and Coachella is the perfect place as it’s so beautiful. It has a very religious, isolated, reverent quality to it. It’s like being in the last minute of a football game, the lights are coming down, the floodlights are up and everyone is excited and together.

First Job:

Photographing bands for The Telegraph magazine in London.

Alternate Path:

Archeologist, radio host, writer, filmmaker. The latter I still intend on being.

Career High:

There have been various ebbs and flows… getting the cover of Art Review when I left college was a real high.

Career Low:

I try and ignore the lows…

Influencers & Inspiration:

Richard Avedon, David Lynch, Joel Sternfeld, Alex Katz, August Sander, Sophia Coppola, Meryl Streep, Frank LLoyd Wright, J.D. Salinger, Bruce Weber, Family, Antonioni, Ernest Hemingway, Gus Van Sant

Little Known Fact:

My dad made our name up. And my mom’s from Ohio.

Ultimate Goal:

To be a successful person in all areas; to feel a part of something and to make work that affects and includes people. To have a house in the countryside with children and tree-houses and lots of fun.

Most Humbling Moment:

Photographing the inmates of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Many of them will die in that prison. It puts things in perspective and makes everything so totally complicated at the same time.

Guiltiest Pleasure:

Eating frozen Snickers bars before bed and watching Netflix, while photo-editing.

Motto:

Just like Nike says… Be true.

Outside Interests:

Hiking and swimming, particularly in quarries in Maine. I would like to do this all the time.

Favourite Artists/Work:

Alex Katz’s portraits of his wife Ada. Donald Judd’s box sculptures in the desert near Marfa. Peter Blake’s collections.

Favourite ravel Destination(s):

So many… Sicily, California, Cornwall, Rio, Boise/Idaho. Just exploring in general is one of my favourite things.

Five Desert Island Picks:

Avedon’s, In the American West
J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories on tape
The world’s best comforter
A bottle of Brunello di Montalcino
Friday Night Lights, the third season, on DVD (with laptop to watch it of course)You are from England and now live in New York, what do you like about NYC, and what, if anything, do you miss about home?

I love that you can work out who you are in NYC and no one judges you. I love that I meet new people all the time. I love that you can get on the Staten Island ferry and feel like you are in a totally different place. When people talk to you about what they know, they include you and encourage you to know more rather than being know-it-alls and scorning you for not knowing. People in NYC are inclusive in that way. I do miss a good cup of English tea and camping in Cornwall.

How ASW Helped:

ASW is always very supportive and has a good attitude toward everything I am doing, and gets the message out to a lot of people who may not see it otherwise. So thanks. I hope people enjoy the work!

To see more of Poppy’s work, visit her website at www.poppydevilleneuve.com.