Sacred Spaces: Home is Where Art is for creators Shabazz and Ashley Larkin

It’s a chilly afternoon in Nashville. The sky is clear. The sun has set. When the beam hits your skin, you’re feeling relieved, but when the moment passes, the cold returns, causing your entire body to shiver in a way which you could’t control. This is unusual weather for this region of the country. It’s the deep south. Middle Tennessee is often bearable this time of 12 months. Climate change? Maybe. As a native New Yorker, I cope as best as possible in a comfortable cashmere hoodie, a highlighter hat, and Uggs.

During the pandemic, a wave of creators like me fled densely populated cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York for the brand new Nashville. Work flexibility, cost of living, dreams of home ownership, and a burgeoning arts and cultural scene that features Black and Brown talent make it a horny place to settle. With this zoom out, the weather is trivial.

The Larkins were ahead of the wave.

Ashley, a psychotherapist and artist, and her husband Shabazz, a multidisciplinary artist, moved their family and moved from the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn to Nashville in 2018, looking for refuge of their home state of Virginia along the best way. “Two weeks turned into six months. “Six months turned into a year,” he tells me about his family’s decision to return to the South. “We had to go back to where we felt at home.”

And although the journey home looks different for each of us, for this couple home is a spot of belonging. It’s practice. It’s something and a spot they have an inclination to gravitate towards. Constant.

This season, Ashley creates space for herself, meeting her needs with the identical effort and intention that she puts into her family’s sacred home.

“The house as a space and the house within it are synonyms,” he says quietly but with authority. “I created my space to support my well-being, my belonging and my creativity. I need this space to take care of me, and I want my sons and husband to feel empowered and seen.”

Larkins and their boys – Royal, 9, and Legend, 7 – live in a south-facing townhouse on the town’s east side. The three-bedroom three-tier bed features decorative coffered ceilings and crown moldings, creating depth and detail throughout the open space.

“This house is ours,” Ashley declares once I ask about their position on home ownership. “It’s a space we can cultivate and curate on our terms. It is agency and autonomy. Shabazz and I didn’t grow up in a family that had all the tips and tricks about wealth to pass on to us. We didn’t understand the value of buying a home – we didn’t know how to do it.” Until they didn’t.

As you enter their 2,565-square-foot apartment, “Impervious,” Shabazz Larkin’s masterpiece, beckons you within the foyer. The 60″ x 72″ acrylic on canvas commemorates the iconography of the twins in Yoruba culture, signifying a strong presence and source of protection.

Scattered throughout the living area are books, African sculptures and textiles, potted plants, a brass trumpet and mixed media art. The Ancestry Wall – a family corner where you’ll be able to honor and remember your ancestors – presents framed moments in time, showing the couple’s grandparents and deceased relations they never had the chance to satisfy.

“We strive to create memorable moments in our space in every way possible,” says Ashley. “I don’t just want beautiful things; I want people to feel something when they walk into our home,” adds Shabazz. “People give space. When we realize that our space is a blank canvas for intention, we have the opportunity to infuse it with meaning, love and all the things that make a home beautiful.”

The open floor plan allows for free movement of Royal, Legend and their remote-controlled gadgets. The front room opens to the dining room, the dining room to the kitchen, and on the far back is the conservatory, which has recently been converted into Ashley’s office. Her personal sanctuary is flooded with light. “I have a quiet sense of peace in this room,” he says. “Speaking of you,” he adds with a conspiratorial wink, “this is the best room in the house.”

When preparing their space, a pair often lets it reveal itself based on the art they select. More than a dozen of Shabazz’s original works are propped, hung and draped throughout the home. “At some point, we wanted to treat our space like an intimate art gallery, so when people came, it was just a natural experience of art,” he says.

Ashley admits that sometimes she insists on having a finished, put-together house. But in moments like these, he reminds himself, “It’s not true. Home is not a destination – it is a practice that is constantly evolving.”

“Wherever you are, there you are – so be there,” concludes Shabazz. “Love wherever you might be immediately, even when it is not your dream home. Drive these nails into the wall and slide all the best way in.