Neeka Allsup
In Moscow. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup
5(ish) Questions for is a chance to discover and learn about St. Louis Creatives, Community Champions, and, well, just interesting people in and around our city. It's a deep dive into what they love and where their passion lies. It's an opportunity for all of us to see our region from a different perspective. This written interview is a peek into their lives and their outlook on St. Louis.
Meet Neeka, a Texas-transplant, artist and entrepreneur passionate about sustainability in their art practice and the creative reuse culture in St. Louis, while pursuing projects like painting murals and expanding their artistic reach globally.
Junior, Allsup’s 14-year-old chihuahua. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup.
Tell us about yourself.
I am an artist from Austin Texas. I am interested in psychology, dream interpretation and recently I am learning how to hypnotize people into having character traits they want.
What gets you out of bed every morning?
My 14-year-old chihuahua scratching on the door to go out. Coffee. I open my journal and make a list of what I need or want to do that day. The list excites me into action. I usually have some things on the list that are fun or easy to do, and those make the hard things easier. The more I cross off a list, the more things I want to do. My list usually has some form of exercise on it, like a run, long walk, gym or yoga. When I’m unhealthy I don’t feel well, and am less productive. Exercise gives me a lot of energy.
But there are some days I can be very lazy. I’m not some perfect machine that does the list every day. But I do it most of the time, and it helps me accomplish a lot.
Who has been your greatest mentor, and what was the most valuable lesson they taught you?
All the women in my family are brave with power tools because of my dad. My sisters and I grew up in a toy store - my dad would craft the toys from wood and my mother painted them. My mother taught me to make my own canvases and how to paint and draw. Both my parents encouraged me and my sisters to do creative endeavors: we sold our paintings + drawings, sold wild berries and flowers we picked in nature. We would have silly rummage sales in the street and sell mistletoe we picked or mint tea we made from the garden. We are all creative entrepreneurs now, we’ve been taught since childhood to be fearless salespeople and makers.
Mural in Moscow. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup.
What are some of your goals for the next year, or the next 5 years?
I will travel and make fun, exciting opportunities for myself. I want to paint more murals and show art in other cities. I did an artist residency in Moscow last summer, I was inspired by the city to draw every day, and I painted a mural there of an ornate gate I would pass on my walks. I want to go to St. Petersburg, everyone told me artists go to Saint Petersburg, business people go to Moscow. Seeing new things and having experiences I’d never do at home. Seeing how other people live and what is or isn’t acceptable in other cultures fascinates me.
I would also like to buy more property, but no concrete plans yet.
Is there an ethical dimension to your work? How do you navigate it?
Existing has an environmental impact, and I’m aware of it. I want my art practice to be sustainable, if it can be. I am vigilant with my waste, and I reuse most of my materials or they come second hand, are salvaged or repurposed. There is so much trash in the world, why not use it? I can often find what I need in the street, thrift or in other people’s scrap piles. Im a scavenger.
What’s a belief you held strongly that you’ve changed your mind about? Why?
I went down a rabbit hole of PETA videos and was a rabid vegan for a little while. Now I eat meat.
I get along with my family better now and I physically feel better when I eat meat. I was very tired. And I was tired of not being able to enjoy a meal at a normal restaurant. I went to eat Mexican food for a friends birthday and it was so embarrassing that I couldn’t even eat the refried beans and I ate a plate of sliced avocado. Anyway, I enjoy my life now a lot better than back then. I eat less meat than a typical American and I enjoy the mantra “everything in moderation, even moderation”.
Mural at 7401 S Broadway. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup.
How do you push through creative blocks or periods of low motivation?
I will revisit something I have already done, like go back into an old idea or series. I have different series, I paint rooms, rooms with body parts in the furniture or symbols hidden in the room like a psychological puzzle. I paint trees, birds and surreal nature. I paint cutaway houses and underground dwellings for foxes. I even have an abstract series using extra paint from my other paintings, this series is called lucky charms. Each of these series is easy for me to revisit when I am in a rut, because I know already exactly what to do.
Describe a project or idea (not necessarily your own) that has inspired you. Why?
I am very inspired by self help books, and I am often revising the idea of habits. Our habits define who we are. I have had bad habits in the past: drugs, alcohol, no exercise, smoking, not reading, binge watching, doom scrolling, not saving money. Self help books have helped me change all these around because they bring me enthusiasm for life and the future. I can still have a drink now and then, but I read, save money, exercise, don’t smoke or use drugs.
New friend. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Russian rap, sugar cereal, cartoons, kids movies like Harriet the Spy and Matilda, and bad novels like the sisterhood of the traveling pants book series.
What’s one hobby or activity you’ve recently discovered or deepened your interest in?
For the last 6 years I’ve been studying Russian, and its a hobby I love. Learning a language humbles you. My trip to Moscow would have been really hard if I didn’t speak any Russian, but there were many times I realized I thought I knew more than I did. I wished my skills were better. But when you’re with someone who is patient and comfortable - the experience speaking another language with a native -it is a gratifying experience. I made a friend there who spoke no English, and we got along very well and spent a lot of time together, he helped me with the mural.
What inspires you about St. Louis?
The creative culture of reuse and DIY here. Its such an old city, and I love how the architecture and buildings are maintained with care to the history but also creatively and using original, salvaged materials. I rehabbed a house with artistic and unique touches. I did a mosaic shower with little trinkets hidden in there like an ISPY book (there’s a photo). I love that there are mosaics everywhere in this city! The Basilica Cathedral is the largest collection of mosaic in America. The city museum, Venice cafe, broadway oyster bar are some great examples of what inspires me about St Louis.
Mosaic project. Photo provided by Neeka Allsup.
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