Today, AD is welcomed by Brooklyn-based visual artist Maris Jones to tour the creative space in which she designs sets for Chappell Roan and more. Jones grew up the daughter of artists, so creativity has always been her path. Making her start filming viral short videos on Vine, Jones’s work has evolved into surreal world-building that has caught the eye of famous names–this past year creating sets for Chappell Roan’s performances on The Late Show, The Tonight Show, and The Governor’s Ball. Follow Jones as she shows you around her home and prepares for the launch of her new book.
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00:00I have done a couple design moments
00:02for Chapel Rowan's television appearances.
00:04They asked if I could make an apple thong,
00:07and I immediately said yes.
00:08But if I'm excited about something,
00:09I'll just say, like, I'll do it.
00:11I was actually on vacation at the time,
00:14so I actually drew out the apple on a napkin by the pool.
00:17I'm Maris Jones, and I create cinematic,
00:19nostalgic worlds in my Brooklyn studio.
00:21♪♪
00:28I've just really been calling myself
00:30a world builder at this point.
00:31It encompasses all of the elements of what I do.
00:35I film, I act, I do set design, I do lighting,
00:39I build the set, I pick out my outfit, I do my makeup,
00:42I edit, I'm just doing it all
00:44and acting as a one-woman film crew at this point.
00:46Recently, I designed a set for Chapel Rowan's SNL appearance.
00:50It was so exciting.
00:51This job really just reminds me
00:53of what being a creative's like.
00:55It's just having fun and exploring
00:57and expanding these different worlds.
00:59♪♪
01:04Director, take one, marker.
01:06All right, so this is my living room.
01:08I really just wanted to make this space
01:10something that was a little bit cleaner
01:12and more curated than my studio,
01:14because it's kind of crazy.
01:15Honestly, my studio is just down the street
01:18from my apartment,
01:20which is me making a compromise
01:21to not working in my apartment.
01:25I made a little pigeon monument with flamingos, of course,
01:27and this one has a little pig leg.
01:28Lost its leg, so my mom made a little pig leg for it.
01:31That's how you know your parents are artsy.
01:32She's like, oh, yeah, I'll fix it.
01:34Stuck a toothpick in it.
01:35I was like, thanks, Mom.
01:36My parents are both artists.
01:37They honestly were upset if I didn't do artistic things.
01:42So I was submerged into art from day one.
01:44It was just my life.
01:45My dad shared with me so many things.
01:47He showed me this movie,
01:49the original Clash of the Titans from the 1980s.
01:52I was blown away by the effects.
01:54These mystical creatures were moving with animation,
01:56and I just wanted to know how to do that.
01:58My dad showed me how to do stop motion,
02:01and ever since then, I was carrying a video camera around.
02:04When I graduated college,
02:05social media was also really taking off.
02:07I was home for the summer,
02:09and I just decided to start creating
02:11social media content online.
02:13And I realized that there was this place
02:14to freely create and make whatever I wanted to make,
02:17and I could reach an audience
02:19and maybe get my voice out that way.
02:21This is my brand new record setup
02:23that my dad just set up.
02:24One of the reasons why me and my partner got together
02:27was we love Paul Rogers.
02:29If you don't know who Paul Rogers is, he's awesome.
02:31I love classic rock music,
02:32so I also simultaneously was cutting out
02:35little paper heads of musicians
02:37and animating their mouths moving up and down
02:40with paper and watercolors.
02:41I realized if I had a concept in my head,
02:44I could create the prop out of computer paper,
02:47like just drawn with a Sharpie and watercolored.
02:49It got my concept across,
02:51which I think at the end of the day,
02:53it's about just the creativity of the concept half the time.
02:56I love New York.
02:57After I graduated, I decided to move here
03:00to be close to my sister,
03:02and I got a job at a clothing store.
03:04And within literally a few weeks of moving here, though,
03:07I went viral on Vine,
03:09and I got signed to an agency,
03:11my first little boutique agency,
03:13and I was making ads for brands pretty fast.
03:15This was actually the first thing I ever did
03:18for syndicated television
03:20was I shot an above-the-influence bullying campaign,
03:23and I got a letter from Obama, so.
03:25This is Henry.
03:26This is the Brooks Brothers mascot.
03:28One day, I opened my front door,
03:30and Henry was sitting in the hallway
03:32with a note attached to it that said my name.
03:34He's stuck with us for life, sorry.
03:37I'm excited about something I'll just say.
03:39Like, I'll do it.
03:40I have done a couple design moments
03:43for Chapel Rowan's television appearances.
03:45They asked if I could make an apple thong,
03:48and I immediately said yes,
03:49but I was actually on vacation at the time,
03:52like, for the first time as an adult,
03:53and so I didn't have, like, any of my, like,
03:56equipment with me.
03:56I didn't have, like, my iPad that I draw on,
03:58so I actually drew out the apple on a napkin by the pool.
04:01We got it done in a very short period of time.
04:03I got a bunch of people to help me,
04:05which was so phenomenal
04:06because we needed to create a big, large, round shape,
04:09and I do not have the space to shave down that much foam.
04:13We found some fabricators to help us create the shell,
04:16and the weed nuggets are made out of insulation foam spray
04:19that I just sprayed and painted them green,
04:21and I made the lighter,
04:22and I also had to figure out the smoke effects.
04:24It was just a fun little community of people creating this.
04:27My friends and I carried it up four flights of stairs
04:30and built it all out.
04:31We brought it there, and no rehearsal, just went out,
04:34and it was just such a surreal, crazy moment.
04:37Just to, like, help that vision come, like, to fruition.
04:40It was such a unique experience.
04:42It was crazy.
04:44It wasn't always like this at all.
04:46I didn't have a studio.
04:47I was shooting in my house.
04:48Well, I was here in New York.
04:50I had four roommates.
04:51It was like a railroad, and there was no windows,
04:53but we had, like, a kitchen-living room hybrid
04:55with, like, an empty wall,
04:57so while they're in school, like, doing their work,
04:59I can just, like, move some furniture aside,
05:02go to the dollar store,
05:03and buy those plastic tablecloths that are different colors,
05:06and I would just, like, pin them up on the kitchen wall,
05:08take, like, the table lamp,
05:09point it at wherever I was filming,
05:11and make these little videos.
05:13I eventually moved again,
05:14and me and my roommate next time decided,
05:17instead of having, like, a living room,
05:19we would just make it an art space,
05:21so then I started to have a little bit more space.
05:23As time goes on, I added more things,
05:25and I could afford more props,
05:27and then, all of a sudden,
05:28I was in a new studio in Brooklyn.
05:29I still am evolving and growing,
05:31and it's just super cool to see how,
05:34if you just stick to, like, what you love to do,
05:36the natural progression of it
05:37is just such a wild and cool experience.
05:40It's been about 18 months
05:41since I've moved into this apartment.
05:44I've had my own studio space separate from my living space.
05:48When I come home after a day of creating,
05:51I feel like this space is really, like,
05:52comforting in so many ways where I can, like, let go.
05:55It's also all the things that I love and make art about.
05:59This was actually a prototype for a prop guitar
06:03for a film I wrote that my dad made for me.
06:05It's very special, and I will make this movie one day.
06:09Love fun curtains.
06:10I just wanted something that was not just gonna be safe.
06:13I love to go bold.
06:14I'd already gotten this crazy credenza over here.
06:17We saw this credenza online,
06:19and we just were like, we have to have it.
06:21I will admit that my parents
06:22don't love 80s furniture at all,
06:25so it's also part of me is, like, a little bit rebelling,
06:27being like, yeah, I'm getting this furniture,
06:29and I like it, and my mom's like, it's so not cute,
06:32and I'm like, it's not yours, it's fine.
06:35So, crazy credenza, partially because of parents.
06:38I love this thing.
06:38This is so silly, because it barely gives off any light,
06:41but I saw this at a vintage store,
06:43and I just, I love when things are just obnoxious,
06:45and I had a marble base.
06:46I made my partner carry this all the way home,
06:48and it's heavy.
06:49It's 100 pounds.
06:50My dad's artwork is on the wall.
06:52He actually was in the same studios as I was,
06:55which is actually how I found my studio space.
06:57I kind of took over that space.
06:59When he wasn't there, I would pay the rent.
07:00When we finally lived on our own, we were like,
07:02oh, we have space for a dining room table.
07:04We just saw this at a vintage store,
07:05and the base was just so cool.
07:07Honestly, this table, to me, symbolizes just having
07:09the space to actually have a dining room table,
07:12if that makes sense.
07:14I love that Brooklyn is quieter.
07:17There's a little bit more space, I think, in Brooklyn.
07:19Cool art spaces and studios are in this area.
07:22It's such a natural, easy place for me to be, and I love it.
07:25I can't imagine myself ever leaving here.
07:27I've never felt so much at home.
07:34Two years ago, an editor from Random House
07:37reached out, who was just a fan of my work, and said,
07:39you know, I really think you could create
07:40a really great book for people.
07:42Would you want to maybe come up with something?
07:44And I immediately was just like,
07:45I think I could be just really helpful in explaining
07:47how to kind of be your unique self.
07:50It could be a tool to help people who want to get new ideas
07:53or who are just starting out.
07:55Just remind people that you can be uniquely you,
07:57and you have all the answers already.
07:59Creating doesn't have to be this crazy,
08:01obscure concept that's far away.
08:04If you have those incredible imaginations,
08:07those ideas and those visions,
08:08you can create anything you want.
08:09Or if you want help designing your living room,
08:11I could help you just relax to be yourself, you know?
08:14And I really just want to be able to share that.
08:16This is my book.
08:17Honestly, it's so surreal for it just to be within my space,
08:21you know, a part of my design.
08:22It is like a weird, surreal meta moment.
08:24I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling, honestly.
08:28I'm very good at not thinking about
08:31the outcome of a scenario.
08:32I just like, I went for it.
08:33Then afterwards, it's like, oh, wow.
08:35I just wrote about my experience,
08:37and it's very vulnerable.
08:39But I'm like, I did it.
08:40I had a unique experience,
08:42and I hope that whatever I share with people
08:44just makes an impact in any way that they need it to,
08:47because, you know, creating means the world to me,
08:50and I think it means the world to so many people.
08:53Hopefully I finish this photo booth today
08:55before the party tomorrow.
08:57I've seen you do stuff like this before you get it done.
08:59There's so many things going on for this book launch.
09:01I'm definitely down to the wire creating this photo booth.
09:04I said that it would be done on Saturday,
09:07but it's now Monday.
09:09I still definitely have like a little bit more to do.
09:12I think it's really exciting for people
09:14to just see these things in real space
09:15just because it's usually online or in photographs.
09:18So I'm working really hard to create this
09:21to make it like as magical as possible for people,
09:23and then there's like a lot of other administrative stuff
09:26that's happening simultaneously.
09:27So like promoting the book, you know,
09:29getting people excited.
09:30We'll see if I get it all done in time.
09:34I did it!
09:36I finished it.
09:37It's gonna look sick.
09:37I'm really, it's gonna be really cool.
09:40Do you have any pictures?
09:41Yeah.
09:42That looks incredible.
09:43Also the backdrop behind it looks amazing too.
09:45I think so.
09:46They're gonna love that.
09:47Yeah.
09:48This party is just super Studio 54 and sparkly and amazing.
09:53It's just about people all coming together
09:55in a very specific time,
09:57creating all these amazing things
09:58and just letting go and dancing.
10:00I see this as like a sweet 16 almost.
10:02This book is all of my photo work.
10:05It's really just like a big celebration
10:06of what I've ended up building so far
10:08in the last like bunch of years that I've been doing this.
10:11It's just a super exciting thing to be able to share
10:13and celebrate with all these people
10:15that I've built this community around.
10:17Welcome to Maris Jones's Book Lodge!
10:20I wrote out my speech, so.
10:28I've always felt a bit behind.
10:30Like everyone else knew more or was into the right things,
10:33but instead of letting that hold me back, I embraced it.
10:36You put your heart into something.
10:39You gain more than what you've ever imagined.
10:42That's the magic of creativity.
10:44Diving in, learning, and growing, and letting things evolve.
10:47And now today I'm launching my new book,
10:50Unlock Your Aesthetic.
10:51Let's give this party a strong hand!
10:57Congratulations on your book.
10:58Thank you!
10:59This is huge.
11:01Honestly, I'm so thankful.
11:04And also this wig is so good.
11:05Everything takes time, and it should take time
11:08because you can't possibly know everything all at once
11:11because you haven't experienced it yet.
11:13Understand that like you have a lot more time
11:15than you even realize.
11:16Life is going to continuously be a journey of exploration.
11:20We live in a time where there's just so many
11:23endless possibilities, and all the things you create
11:25are just stepping stones
11:27to learn one more thing about yourself.
11:29Trust your instincts.
11:31Trust who you are.
11:31You can only be yourself.