Seen

Learn more about Esther Kim Varet: https://www.estherkimvaret.com/
This week, Carrie chats with Esther Kim Varet—co-founder of Various Small Fires, the gallery with locations in LA, Seoul, and Dallas—to discuss her journey from opening a gallery at 24 (inspired by a chance $60,000 payday at an art fair) to running for Congress in Orange County.
Yes, she's the real-life inspiration behind the gallery owner character in HBO's Girls. But this conversation goes far deeper than pop culture moments. Esther talks about building an empire in an industry not designed for someone who looks like her, the lessons she learned from art world legend Mary Boone, and why "fake it till you make it" actually works in contemporary art.
Then we come to the pivot point: Why would someone at the top of the art world walk away to run for Congress? As the daughter of North Korean refugees who started with $400 and a shiitake mushroom farm in Texas, Esther explains her urgent mission to fight authoritarianism, protect free speech, and ensure her kids inherit a democracy worth living in. She's not just changing the art world anymore—she's fighting for the future.
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About Behind The Seen
The Behind The Seen Series brings on art world professionals of all sorts to give you insight into what the art world is really like. Curious what it’s like being a gallerist, an art critic or a curator? Then this series is for you.

This week, Carrie Scott sits down with artist Wilma Woolf.
Wilma is a Virtual Artist working in London. In 2020 she completed a Masters in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, graduating with a Distinction. She has exhibited her work at The Tate Modern, V&A and at Richard Saltoun Gallery in Mayfair with a solo exhibition centred around her installation, Domestic. In 2022 Woolf was invited to the Houses of Parliament to display her work Domestic, which was then discussed by MP Rosie Duffiled in a House of Commons debate. She has recently been interviewed by Art Newspaper and displayed her work "I Collected You Carefully" at the Richard Saltoun Gallery alongside an artist talk chaired by Hettie Judah, art critic and guardian journalist. Her latest exhibition was at the V&A in April 2024 as part of the 'Feminist Futures' exhibition. 
Woolf's core concern is the extrapolation of political injustices told through data, collected testimonials and the communication of this through artistic means.
Integral to the meaning of her work is the making process. Her works are often memorialistic in nature and are both labour and research intensive. Through this making process she fulfils a personal devotional need to pay tribute to people whose lives have been affected and interrupted by injustice. 
Woolf's work is noted for being repetitive, organised and often comprising of grids or grid like structures. It is multi-disciplinary in its approach, incorporating installations, sculptural and 2D work, through diverse materials such as concrete, photography, glass, light and ceramics.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (⁠⁠⁠⁠https://seen.art⁠⁠⁠⁠).
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This week, Carrie Scott interviews artist Richelle Rich.
What does Margaret Thatcher have to do with Mr. Whippy ice cream? And why does it matter to contemporary art?
Listen to this episode to find out.
Working from her vine-covered studio in Santa Monica, Richelle is finally looking back at the Isle of Wight—the small island where she grew up. Her current work explores systems of power through unexpected objects: ice cream, chalk cliffs, and folklore. She's investigating the urban legend that Margaret Thatcher invented soft-serve ice cream as an entry point to the intersection of personal and political history.
We talk about her decade traveling with an inflatable sex doll as her alter ego, creating a giant floral installation spelling "cunt" in the California desert, and why she prefers subversive ambiguity over overt political messaging—except when it comes to abortion rights.
But this goes beyond art. We get honest about motherhood and creative practice—making art from dirty nappies during postpartum depression, raising teenage boys who understand privilege without guilt, and feeling like a wild horse being broken in even with help and privilege.
We explore "escape velocity" from island culture, becoming more politically active in LA than she ever was in London, and how our generation of women is partnered with the first generation of men figuring out modern fatherhood with no roadmap.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (⁠⁠⁠⁠https://seen.art⁠⁠⁠⁠).
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In this episode of the Seeing series, curator Carrie Scott sits down in studio with Joel Mesler .
In this deeply personal conversation, Joel opens up about the end of his abandonment issues, why he deliberately chooses discomfort, and what it really means to create permission for others to feel. As an introvert who holds office hours at galleries, he embodies fascinating contradictions—and his radical honesty about parenting, art market strategies, and personal healing makes this one of our most destabilizing interviews yet.
What happens when you sit down with an artist whose work demands genuine vulnerability from everyone in the room? Listen to find out.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (⁠⁠⁠https://seen.art⁠⁠⁠).
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In this episode, artist Richard Phillips sits down with Carrie Scott to talk everything from his meteoric rise after being featured on Gossip Girl, to being 'cancelled' and the abrupt closure of his show at Gagosian. From his unconventional creative process and willingness to destroy seemingly finished works to why he believes today's artists are creating from a place of fear - Richard reminds us that we can't always believe what we hear or see on the internet.

Richard Phillips is an American artist known for large-scale photorealistic paintings that often depict women sourced from fashion magazines and gossip publications. After receiving his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art in 1984 and MFA from Yale School of Art in 1986, Phillips worked as an art handler at the Guggenheim Museum before establishing his painting career. His glossy, hyperrealistic style transforms mass media imagery into fine art, with the artist stating that "fashion is not separate from art" when describing his approach to appropriating commercial source material.
From Carrie: "Perhaps my expectations were low. But I left so happy to have met this man, and indeed happy to have seen his work in person. His facility, and agenda are both extraordinary. His art speaks to the complexities of modern life, exploring themes of celebrity, consumerism, and the intersection of art and popular culture. And I think the art world needs Richard right now. Even if we don’t really want to look at how ugly that side of things can be."

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (⁠⁠https://seen.art⁠⁠).
Join our free newsletter and become an art insider:⁠⁠ https://mailchi.mp/seen/waitlist⁠
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