What If the Problem Isn’t Taste—It’s the Pressure to Get It Right?
Year three of LOTA and a new way in
I’ve felt it too—the fatigue. Of trying to figure out what I actually like versus what I’ve just seen the most. Of bouncing between blank walls and impulse buys. Of being stuck between “I know what I don’t like” and “I’m not sure what works for me.”
I was recently at a stunning winery in Napa—famous for its striking architecture, landscaping, and sculptures. The setting was breathtaking, but the art? Soul-sucking. I found myself (in the most annoying way possible) complaining to my friends about the stylized “A”s sprinkled everywhere, and the faux-European vintage wine posters that seemed to multiply with each hallway.
To be fair, there’s nothing inherently wrong with those posters, it just felt like a mismatch. This is a place with deep roots in Spanish winemaking, a story worth telling, and clearly the budget and interest in art. So why fill the space with aesthetic filler? (And truthfully, I’m not above it—I had a Cinzano poster for years. Hauled it from New York to SF to LA. Still not sure I’ve ever tasted it.)
But that’s the thing—taste isn’t about moral superiority. It’s about attention. Genuine interest. Reflection. A willingness to shift.
When I started LOTA, I didn’t know what I was building.
It began with storytelling—sharing artists and designers who inspired me. People shaped by history, but not confined by it. Work that challenged dominant narratives. Stories I wasn’t seeing in the art, design, or fashion worlds. So I kept going.
That early storytelling evolved into sourcing, advisory, and curatorial projects. I curated my first show at Friday Gallery. Helped design homes that felt more like the people who lived in them. Worked with artists like Ragni Agarwal and Motherland Designs to support their own growth and storytelling.
But the past six months have looked quiet. It was an intentional pause, to take stock of where I am and where I wanted to go.
Because no matter how many clients, friends, and family members I’ve worked with and talked to, I kept hearing the same things:
“I don’t know what I like.”
“I just needed to fill the wall.”
“I’ll never understand art.”
“My home is fine, but it doesn’t feel like me.”
And the more I heard those things, the more I saw what was underneath: Not indifference. Not a lack of care. But exhaustion. Paralysis.
We’re tired of performing taste. Especially in our own homes.
Taste has become flattened—turned into trends and algorithms. It’s no longer something we grow into. It’s something we feel like we’re supposed to already have before we begin. And that pressure keeps all of us stuck or worse, feel like we aren’t worthy of it.
We’ve been taught to treat our homes like projects we’re supposed to finish. But homes aren’t projects. They’re reflections of who we are—and like us, they’re meant to keep changing.
That belief is what led to the next evolution of LOTA. Taste isn’t a destination. It’s something you grow into, and grow out of. That’s what makes it personal.
Introducing LOTA’s Art Match Tool
A new way in.
A way to name what’s yours.
You answer a few questions—some intuitive, some surprising. Upload a few photos of your real home. Not the “after” version, the one you are sitting in right now - with the unmade bed, chair full of the week’s outfits, and art still on the floor.
And in return? A personalized art style profile, giving you the language to start to lift the fog and discover art that makes your heart flutter.
Tactically, the results will give you:
A personal profile rooted in your visual and emotional sensibilities with three words to act as your filter (just like those personal style three words from
, , , but for your space)Direction on how to bring your style to life including styles to look for and ideas of where to begin.
Emerging artist matches based on your preferences
Support to reconnect with your taste, not just fill the wall
More simply, a place to begin.
Whether you're looking for original works or limited-edition prints, I want to meet you where you are—making great art more discoverable and more attainable. It’s anti–gatekeeping by design.
Under the hood, LOTA’s Art Match Tool uses AI. It analyzes your responses and images to help make connections you might not see on your own. AI makes people nervous, rightfully so, but we all also know there are a ton of benefits to it too. I don’t believe it can replace taste, vision, or intuition, but it can help pattern match. That’s all it’s doing here.
I built the tool with AI tools like ChatGPT and Replit, learning and forcing the models to unlearn bias around aesthetics, style, and cultural resonance. It’s a wild world, and I believe in engaging with it critically, not ignoring what’s already shaping the future. As I’ve shared before, I don’t think AI will replace art in fact I think it’s going to make art even more important. I could keep going on this, but will save it for the upcoming deep dive on the full process and what I’ve found.
Artists have always been at the core of LOTA, and that’s not changing. If anything, this tool is a new way to support their work and bring more people into the ecosystem of thoughtful, intentional collecting.
LOTA started as a way to discover and support the artists shaping culture, so we can collectively widen the canon of what art, vision, and yes, even humanity look like.
My hope is that by making it easier to find those artists and learn what you love, we create room for more connection, more beauty, and more people who feel like art is for them.
Because in a world that’s chaotic on just about every vector, art isn’t a luxury. It’s a way forward.
Check it out here and please share all your thoughts and feedback in the comments below or email me. I’m all ears.