> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A View From the Easel - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/a-view-from-the-easel-147/ - Published: 2026-09-18T14:41:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-18T14:41:10.000Z - Description: “Piles to start a project, piles during a project, and piles of stuff after it is finished.” - Author: Lakshmi Rivera Amin - Tags: Community, A View From the Easel Welcome to the 355thinstallment of A View From the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, husband-and-wife artist duo Hillerbrand and Magsamen build a spaceship in their backyard and relish the messiness of making. Want to take part? Check out our [submission guidelines](https://hyperallergic.com/submit-your-workspace-to-a-view-from-the-easel/) and share a bit about your studio with us through [this form](https://forms.gle/Erq7cyGEmMUxKrLe9?ref=hyperallergic.com)! All mediums and workspaces are welcome, including your home studio. --- ## [Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand](https://www.hillerbrandmagsamen.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), Houston, Texas ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/Hillerbrand-Magsamen-4---Hillerbrand-Magsamen-1.jpeg) ***How long have you been working in this space?*** Twenty years in our house. Ten years in the garage studio. ***Describe an average day in your studio.*** We've been working as a collaborative team for over 25 years. When we first moved to Houston, Texas, from New York, we felt like that Talking Heads song, "How did we get here?" We used our house as a studio. We tunneled through walls with chainsaws and sledgehammers, cut a hole in the wall, and built a three-and-a-half-story spaceship in our backyard. It finally got to be too much having our house in complete chaos. People kept asking us, "Can I come over and see what it looks like?" So we built a very simple wall down the middle of our garage and, of course, put an AC unit in it because it's Houston. It's funny having this kind of space because we love it. It lets us be messy, keep things the way they are, and not have to clean up after ourselves. But sometimes it's also a little sad because, even though it's only 10 feet away, we miss our house being the studio. Our routine is always the same. Stephan works on a project in the morning, and then Mary works on it in the afternoon and evening. On weekends, we come together and get into wonderful debates and arguments about why something was changed or what we wanted to keep. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/Hillerbrand-Magsamen-3---Hillerbrand-Magsamen.jpeg) ***How does the space affect your work?*** With us mostly working in our house, the studio becomes a strange mix of storage, messy workspace, and refuge. Most artists treat the studio as a refuge from their daily lives, but our work is about our lives, our home, and what's happening now. So the studio becomes a refuge as well, but for a different reason. It is a place to get away from the "art," if that makes sense. For example, years ago, when we were making the spaceship in our backyard, Mary came home one day to find Stephan in the kitchen with everything we owned spread out everywhere. It was a complete disaster. She asked what he was doing, and he said, "I'm making a space satellite, of course." So Mary went into the studio to get away from the art happening in the house and to order takeout. That is so typical of our practice and the way we blur the line between the studio and where we live. ***How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?*** As we mentioned, when we moved to Houston from New York, we were really surprised by how different it was. From Brooklyn to suburban Houston, and if you know H-Town, it is sprawled out like LA. So, at first, we thought we were alone. That there was no community. But it was exactly the opposite. There were artists everywhere. Houston has one of the most vibrant arts communities in the country! We had people making work a block away, two blocks away, and so on. So we started doing fun things like block parties and open studios. A year ago, as funny as it sounds, we made a tiny gallery in our front yard called Shepherd Park Projects, named after the neighborhood where we live. We invite six local artists each year to create a miniature exhibition. It is the most fun ever. For the recent FotoFest Biennial here in Houston, we even hosted a group show of Polaroids! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/avfte-ff.jpg) ***What do you love about your studio?*** Stephan likes to make "piles." We mean a lot of piles. Piles to start a project, piles during a project, and piles of stuff after it is finished. So the studio becomes a place where those piles can hang out for a while without being disturbed. ***What do you wish were different?*** SIZE!!!! We bet we are like so many artists where we do not have enough storage. We basically have no archive or storage of old work. After 25 years of working together, we only bought a flat file six months ago to hold some work. Can you believe it!? ***What is your favorite local museum?*** Absolutely the Houston Center for Photography (HCP)! They do amazing programming! ***What is your favorite art material to work with?*** Would you believe Nerf Bullets, rhinestones, and zip ties!?!