Mira Mariah: Beyond Girl Knew York

You may know her as the tattoo icon, ‘Girl Knew York,’ but Mira Mariah is so much more than that — she's a fashion lover, mother, illustrator; simply put, she is an artist in every interpretation of the word.

Her art celebrates the world as she sees it, and specifically, the women who add color to it; all the different shades and emotions that creates the beauty she’s so drawn to. 

We sat down with Mira to learn more about how art influences her universe, how she’s working to break down the barriers of entry into the art world and her push for people to see the beauty that lives around them – even when it’s not so easy to see. 

On Finding Beauty

Spoiler: To Mira, it’s everywhere. “Beauty is so subjective. I'm obsessed with having beauty around you, seeing beauty in things that you're not supposed to,” Mira said. Inspired by girl culture, Mira finds beauty in her grandmothers, sisters, mother and friends. Their strength and tenacity found avenues of expression in crafting their own world and their own style. This has influenced Mira to create her own art. 

Mira pulls her inspiration from these orbiting worlds and wants her art to make people think about fun, even if it's dark and complicated. Her art is grounded in the female experience, and she wants to connect us all to that feeling. 

My work is representative of the women in my real life, and because I live in New York City and because I'm disabled and because I'm Latina and all these things … the women in my life all look very different from each other and they're all super gorgeous. And I love seeing them look back at me and my artwork, and that might mean I will romanticize a double chin, or that might mean that some of the women in my art wear prosthetics like I do, or some of the women in my art have scars or have a very human, very real look to them. 

Mira sees everything as art, and she wants people to see themselves as art. Mira wants people to make art, and she wants people to have art at every point in their journey — at any size and at any price range. You could say Mira is a woman on a mission to bring art to the world and the world into her art.

On Designing Your Space

To Mira, designing your space is a celebration and culmination of where you’ve been and where you’ll go. We know sometimes it’s hard to get inspired, especially when you’re at a time in your life when you don’t know how long you’ll be in one place (hello first apartment – we’re looking RIGHT at you). 

When we brought this up with Mira, she said, “I think that there is a lot to be said about making something your own. And I know that a lot of young people are in these transitional spaces, and I have spent so much time of my life in transitional spaces, being in dorm rooms or apartments. Getting art into those spaces has such an incredible impact on mental health and productivity. I want you to do what you can with what you have on hand immediately.”

If you’re inspired by this but worried about where to start in the creative process — don’t. Mira emphasized how sacred the human touch is when creating — the quickness and scrappiness highlights that the art was human made.

If you still need extra motivation to get started creating, Mira can’t wait for you to join her world. “Come as you are. Do it as fast as you can, however you can, however you can get it done.” The human that made the art is you and THAT is the most special thing!

About Her TilePix Collection (!)

Partnering with Mira was a no-brainer for us and we couldn’t be more excited to drop her original collection of artwork available for purchase in the Girl Knew York Studio. 

Inspired by her Tribeca studio, step into an extension of Mira’s clubhouse. Like the original space, these designs celebrate romanticism, girl pride and reimagine traditional tattoos and classical art, all with a wink. 

Mira has translated her one-of-a-kind art and tattoos into a touch of maximalism and beauty you can now add to your own space with her exclusive TilePix designs.

Check out our full sit down with Mira and shop her collection on TilePix.com