Life is a wild ride. From the good to the bad to all the spaces in between, the experience of being a human being can be a lot. And while we certainly hope that you’ve been able to craft a life that leaves room for the things you’re passionate about (even if that’s spending time with your favorite Netflix show and beloved pet), sometimes we all need an escape.
An opportunity to be someone else, an opportunity to experience a dramatically different world, and above all, the opportunity to put down your obligations for a moment and just live — these are the ways that we can take a brief respite from the world, be it on the micro or macro level. And this month, we have gathered five women who have mastered the art of escapism. From crafting the kind of desserts that can make time stop to making heart-stopping art, these are the creative minds helping us get out of our heads.
Allison Tran, owner of nīn Cupcake Shop
The way Allison Tran recalls it, baking cupcakes was an act of escapism before it ever became her business. When she couldn’t find her place in college, she found her way to the kitchen instead.
“I was a biology major, and my soul needed an escape because I was kind of depressed,” she says. “And so on the side, I was baking for fun. I was living in the dorms and didn’t have an oven. So, I found classmates and was like, ‘Can I bake at your place?’ I had a little container of cupcake liners and flour and would bring it over and just give it out.”
Since then, Tran’s passions have expanded in nīn Cupcake Shop, where her devoted fan base clamors for fantasy flavors like honey ginger chamomile, Hong Kong Milk Tea, and Rose Lychee Oolong. While she’s currently operating on a pop-up basis in multiple cities across the U.S. (which can be tracked via Instagram), plans are underway for an East Hollywood storefront, scheduled to open later this year. Because as Tran sees it, why not offer the escape of a good dessert to as many people as possible?
How she worked double time to make her cupcake dream a reality
“I got my first bakery job in college. I would wake up at midnight and go to work and bake off all the pastries. Then it would be 8 a.m., and then I would go to class for the whole day. And then on top of that, my cooking business started taking off, so the owner let me sell my cupcakes, and I started building my customer base. Then on the weekends, I would drive straight to my parents’ house and bake off my orders for the weekend. I burned myself out on two to four hours of sleep on average for a good two years. Because I had to balance my school life with something that I was passionate about.”
How she develops her whimsical flavors
“I wanted to create what I wanted to be out there. I make a bomb-ass strawberry shortcake. And chocolate cupcake. That’s a must. And then just throwing different influences from what I grew up with. A lot of people still don’t know Southeast Asian flavor. I also worked at a Swedish restaurant in New York City for a little bit, and I was out there in their garden picking lemon verbena and mugwort and was like, ‘How do I incorporate this into pastry?’ I feel like cupcakes has been my way of educating people and introducing them to other cultures.”
How she protects her escape when it’s become her daily job
“I don’t eat when I bake. Sometimes there’s years when I don’t taste my cupcake. I guess over time, after the first four to five years, I could tell if it’s good or not. So, it becomes kind of a feel. It’s like a superpower, but it takes time. Ten-thousand hours of repetition before you can just tell if it’s good or not. So, when a batch comes out, I can tell if it’s good or if there’s not enough baking soda.”
Amanda Rich, Madonna Inn’s artistic director
Located in San Luis Obispo, California, Madonna Inn is a pink-drenched hideaway. It’s a place where travelers can relax in fantastical rooms — the Madonna Inn has 110, and none is exactly the same — drink from ornate glass goblets, play tennis on hot pink and teal courts, and eat in a hot pink steak house. But as artistic director Amanda Rich notes, the inn, which started with a modest 12 rooms, has always been an escapist delight, one that gets even more elaborate during Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter, when seasonal decorations are added into the mix.
“One of my passions is decorating,” she says. “So, it’s always fun when I get to be out there and see all these kids and families come in and want to take their photos. It’s amazing to get that feedback of people enjoying everything and just seeing their faces. It’s a really special experience.”
On the rooms that become fan favorites
“People used to always go for Room 137 for Caveman, because it’s all rock and actually has a waterfall shower. It’s very outrageous. But nowadays, I think a lot of people are interested in the wallpaper and the whole design. I think it’s one of those things that are helped with social media, and people are wanting picture spots. But wallpaper has had a resurgence since social media. We just changed the wallpaper in Room 146, Mini Maxi, last year, and it’s purple and sparkly. So, that would definitely be my favorite. It’s like a mermaid tail. It’s just so cool. We have a lot of people that love staying here, and they want to stay in every room. Some people are up to 70 rooms. That’s pretty impressive.”
How they developed their trademark goblets
“Mr. [Alex] Madonna designed the actual mold. So, if you look at the carpet in Room 141, the Madonna suite, you can see the carpet with rose print with grapes, custom designed just for us. He took that rose print from the carpet and designed the goblets. Each goblet is hand-poured. As for the colors, we just kind of have to wait and see what they’re pouring at the time. People collect them. So as soon as we get that new color, people are so excited and rushing because we only get like 100 [at a] time. So, it’s kind of one of those things that makes it extra special because you got to get it while you can.”
On their decadent bakery
“Mr. Madonna loved his dessert, so he would have dessert every single day. We have those chocolate curls, which are very well known, and also the pink champagne cake. That’s our No. 1 seller. But we have carrot cake, and German chocolate, French pastries, cookies, cinnamon rolls — pretty much anything you can imagine. Not only do we have tourists coming all over to taste these desserts and see them, but we have the locals who come here for every birthday, or they’ll pick up a piece of cake and take it home just so they can have that feeling. You know, when you take that bite and you can imagine yourself in your happy place.”
Giulia Grillo, aka Petite Doll, artist
As Petite Doll, Giulia Grillo creates surreal, dreamlike images. Is it horror? Is it comedy? The Italian artist sees her otherworldly self-portraits as an extension of the human experience in all its beauty and grotesque splendor. Yes, it’s an escape from the ordinary, but one that challenges our ideas of art and self.
“My work revolves around creating dreamlike images that blend reality and fantasy,” she says. “I often use unexpected juxtapositions of elements to explore the human psyche and emotions, as well as to challenge traditional ideas about art and photography.”
How she builds her characters
“Story comes first. For example, I might come across an object that I find visually interesting and use that as a starting point to create a character concept. Then, I combine this object with other elements to build a story or theme around the character. Once the concept is in place, I begin to focus on the character’s appearance, carefully considering things like color, shape, and texture to create an aesthetic that is both visually appealing and disturbing. In many cases, the appearance of the character is a reflection of the underlying concept or story.”
Her favorite symbolism
“I love communicating through symbolism and visual paradoxes. Each of my images is a visual metaphor that speaks to the viewer on a deeper level, beyond the realm of rationality. Two of my recurrent elements are the heart and brain. These two organs are powerful symbols that can represent a range of emotions and concepts. By incorporating the heart into my work, for example, I can create visual metaphors that evoke a sense of intimacy, anxiety, vulnerability, or even pain. It also represents the core of one’s being, and by exploring the symbolism of the heart, I can delve into themes of self-discovery and self-expression.”
How fate plays a role
“I often start by experimenting with different materials to see what works best. Having a background in design definitely helps in terms of visual thinking and versatility. Sometimes certain skills come easier than others, but I’m always willing to learn and try new techniques. I once stumbled upon a strange and fascinating taxidermy sculpture of a creature that was half pigeon and half rabbit. When I saw that bizarre creature, I knew it would be the perfect addition to a surreal scene I had been wanting to create. The scene was simple: a girl sitting on a bench in a park, surrounded by pigeons. But with the addition of the strange creature, the scene was transformed into something extraordinary, challenging the perception of reality.”
Sarah Penner, author
Sarah Penner has the near-magical ability to craft different worlds. Her New York Times best-selling debut, The Lost Apothecary, was set in 18th century London and featured a shop that mysteriously helped women get rid of abusive men. (It’s currently being adapted into a television show by Fox.) Meanwhile, the recently released The London Séance Society deals with murder, spiritual matters, and the occult. But for all her abilities to take readers on a wild ride, Penner says she doesn’t necessarily need an escape. By design, and with a little encouragement from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic, she’s leading the exact life she’s dreamed of.
“I have been really conscientious about designing a life that I don’t want to escape from,” she says. “The reality is that not every day is amazing. And so, for me, escapism means kind of finding a place that we can go mentally. When I think of escapism, what automatically comes to mind is a place that we can go internally, where we can just be in our own living room or a quiet space and kind of visualize ourselves somewhere else.”
How writing transforms into a personal adventure
“There’s a scene in my debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, that takes place at the British Library, and my main character is at a computer, looking at these historic maps trying to find hidden streets that once existed that no longer exist. I went to the British Library, and I am obsessed with that same map! I went through that whole exercise of looking through the map for the hidden street. I walked those same streets as her. That stuff is all playful for me and so much fun. For my second book, The London Séance Society, one of the very first things I did when I started writing this book was I went to a séance with my mom, and we had the most fun girls’ weekend. We went to this old village where everybody there still practices mediumship, and spiritualism, and ghost hunting, and all of that paranormal stuff. And we went to a reading with a medium. That’s another perfect example where that was such a memorable, enjoyable experience for me to have with my mom. And then I was able to use that context as I wrote some of the scenes. It’s so easy in that way to mesh what interests me with what I’m trying to write for my readers.”
Where she stands on the existence of ghosts
“I want to believe in ghosts! I have not had a personal experience with ghosts, but many people that I know have, and I have a great deal of respect for people that have had personal experiences with the paranormal. And I will not ever dispute that or disagree with what they say is their personal experience. I am waiting for my own personal experience, and I’m openhearted and open-minded about it. And I hope someday I can unequivocally say I believe in ghosts.”
Why she still loves reading even when writing is her day job
“I’m reading a book right now. And the style and tone is so completely different than what I write; the genre is completely different than what I write. And I find myself just loving that because it’s a reminder that art is so subjective — there is no right or wrong or black and white for art. Everything is shades of gray, and some people love something and some people don’t love that same thing, but I find myself envisioning these stunning descriptions that the author is giving. I can hear the dialogue — it’s literally like I’m escaping into the pages of her book and not my book. And that’s a really beautiful … experience as an author because I don’t get fatigued of words or of storytelling because everything is so unique and artistic in its own way.”
Leiracosplays, cosplay influencer
Leiracosplays chose her cosplay moniker as a play on her first name, Ariel. But while Leira might just be Ariel spelled backward, Leiracosplays sees cosplay as a world where things are set right — where she can explore her love of fantasy, anime, and even Disney characters in a way that builds community.
“It’s really opened my eyes to seeing how people are very unique — how we’re all so unique,” she says. “I wish I would have found cosplaying much younger, but I think it came at the right time. … It’s just been fun to really dive deep into this realm of fantasy.”
On finding her way into cosplay
“It wasn’t until college that I actually met people who cosplayed. But I was still timid to do it because I didn’t see as much diversity as I would have liked to as a person of color. Like, ‘Oh, she’s trying to be something she’s not,’ when cosplaying. It even seemed more awkward for me. So, it wasn’t until I was maybe 23 or 24 [that] my husband and I went to a convention together. And I was like, ‘I want to do this even though it wasn’t as diverse as I wanted it to be.’ I did see other people of color cosplay, and I was like, ‘You know what? This space is actually so welcoming.’ There were parts where it’s not as welcoming and you face a lot of backlash just for the color of your skin — but overall, these are my people.”
On using cosplay to celebrate the human experience
“I’m just finding out that people think so differently, and people aren’t as neurotypical as you would think. And I love that because at first, I was looking for diversity and the color of skin — but diversity in the way that we operate and the way we approach the world has been so fascinating within the realm of cosplay. There’s so many people like me — we call ourselves weirdos and would sit on the sidelines and not necessarily have a place amongst a lot of people. But once you come to the realm of cosplay, you find so many people who are like, ‘Yes, you are different or you may be the weirdo, but there are other people like you, and it’s not weird.’ There’s just a lot of diversity in the way people think. It’s just been so nice. I’ve met lifelong friends through cosplaying that I’ve even gone to travel and meet up with, and it’s been such a good thing.”
Advice for anyone interested in participating
“Pick a character that you know that you love! Cosplay is from the words ‘costume’ and ‘play.’ So, if there’s no fun in it, then I wouldn’t suggest doing it. And bring to life the way you want to see it. The internet can be a really great place, but it can also be really harsh. Guess what? You don’t have to look exactly like the character. It’s just about you enjoying that character, and seeing it on yourself, or pretending to be them — however far you want to go with it. And so, if you want to change the hair to be more like your hair type, do it. Get contacts, don’t get contacts — just make it fit to your personality and whatever makes you have fun.”
Laura Studarus is a Los Angeles-based travel writer who has contributed to Fast Company, BBC Travel, and Thrillist.
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