Andrea Napierkowski shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Andrea, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I’ve been hosting small dress-up dance parties in my studio. Friends come over, we layer color and fabric and music, and we just move — no photos required, no purchases expected. It brings me back to childhood afternoons dancing with my twin sister during homeschool breaks when we needed to reset our spirits. Movement plus color feels like emotional oxygen. It reminds me that joy is not something you wait for — it’s something you practice in small, shared moments.
I treat getting dressed like a daily art form rather than a social performance. I choose color and texture based on what my nervous system needs, not what looks impressive. Some days that means bright and electric, some days soft and cocooned. It’s a small but steady way of practicing honesty. I’ve learned that when you make tiny creative decisions with compassion, they add up to a life that feels more like your own.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a creative director, color artist, and web designer in Grand Rapids. I run a web studio called CurlyHost and a color-centered art practice called More ∞ Joy. My web work is structured and strategic; my art practice is tactile and alive — dye, clothing, portraiture, and participatory experiences built around color and expression.
Six years ago I began a daily creative practice that started as personal survival and slowly became a public offering. What makes my work different is that it’s built on repetition and ritual rather than hype. I believe art is not only something we produce — it’s something we return to. Low stakes, daily, imperfect. That’s where the transformation happens.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Connection breaks when we feel we must perform instead of being known. When we edit ourselves too heavily, relationships become polished but fragile. I lived that way for a long time — outwardly fine, inwardly disconnected.
Connection is restored through shared making and honest presence. When people create side by side — dyeing, dressing up, moving, photographing — something relaxes. The pressure to say the right thing disappears. Art gives people a place to stand together without pretending. It makes room for the real person to show up.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Six years ago, when I quit drinking. From the outside, I looked happy and successful, but inside, I was working very hard to maintain that illusion. When I removed the numbing, I had to build something supportive in its place. That’s when I began a daily art practice, using my body and clothing as a canvas.
I’m autistic and highly sensitive, and instead of trying to override that, I began designing for it — color as communication, soft textures as protection, light and fabric, and form as tools. Art became how I metabolize emotion. Not to make it pretty — but to make it livable.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
More than it used to be. I once believed professionalism meant hiding uncertainty and intensity. Now I think it means showing up aligned. I still value polish, but not at the cost of truth.
I’m learning to let my public self include process, not just results. Authenticity, for me, is not full exposure — it’s gentle congruence. My work, my clothing, my teaching, and my daily practices are becoming more and more the same conversation.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Yes. After my most recent fashion show, Cosmic Bodies, I experienced a real emotional drop. The event succeeded, but the achievement didn’t hold me the way the daily practice does. That was clarifying.
I used to think sales and milestones would create happiness. What actually sustains me is the freedom to create regularly, dress honestly, walk in the sun, eat food that supports my body, sleep well, and make imperfect things. More ∞ Joy is a business, but first it is a practice. The joy comes from doing it — not from proving it worked.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://morejoystudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morejoyispossible/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreanapierkowski/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morejoyispossible
Image Credits
Andrea Napierkowski from More ∞ Joy Studio
