The Dance Vol.4 Flyer

Commissioned to create the poster for Matte Project’s The Dance Vol. 4, an after-hours gathering at Pardon My French in the East Village, we set out to evoke the quiet intensity of a New York apartment, layered with the raw, punk-inflected spirit of the neighborhood. We began with a photograph that felt both intimate and unguarded: a girl caught in a moment of solitude, writing on the walls of a dim, windowless room. In post-production, we expanded her world, overlaying fragments of handwritten text, as if the room itself had become a canvas for thought, rebellion, and memory.

To bridge this private interior with the event’s setting, we introduced a window that opens onto the glowing façade of Pardon My French. Through subtle compositing and the careful use of light, the outside world becomes a soft focal point — a quiet pull beyond the room, linking interior reflection with the hum of nightlife just beyond the glass. The final image is layered with contradiction — both enclosed and expansive, personal yet connected to the city’s restless energy. It captures the essence of the night: fleeting, charged, and undeniably New York.