We couldn’t be more excited to host a (virtual) holiday market with our friends at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and hosting platform Lemonade. We are going to be highlighting vendors throughout the holiday season and beyond, by sitting down and asking some fun questions! We hope this provides a larger platform to encourage shopping local and supporting our neighbors.
Our next festive vendor? Suzy Mae with Neon Altar!
(1) What is your name and pronouns? Business name?
Hi, I’m Suzy Mae (she/her), and I run the online modern metaphysical marketplace Neon Altar.
(2) We are thrilled you are participating in the Close to Home market! What kind of art/product do you make?
Thanks! Believe me, I’m thrilled to be a part of such a lively, homegrown event. One of the most special and sweet volunteer experiences I’ve had was decorating the LA LGBT Center’s Senior Christmas Party one year.
As for my shop, www.NeonAltar.Store is a place for witches, dreamers, tarot readers, and label-less seekers. Filled with magical gifts, Neon Altar offers vibrant, colorful and creative entry points into the supernatural.
A blend of goods made and crafted by me, plus a curated mix of other makers’ wares, everything I select and create for Neon Altar is guided by an ethical aesthetic.
I specifically seek work from independent queer creators who don’t have a large platform, paying them directly. All tarot decks celebrate diversity in their art and intent. My cauldron sets and burnable mixes are priced accessibly, designed and hand-packed by me. The crystals I sell are (mostly) sourced from a dude in downtown LA who travels to work directly with the miners who dig them from the Earth. And so on!
I’m always seeking out new resources for witchcraft materials and tools that respect our planet, rather than harm it.
(3) How long have you been doing it? How did you get into it?
Neon Altar’s been online since 2017, and for a year, sold my goods in a brick-and-mortar store, A Love Bizarre, first in DTLA, then in Atwater, that also featured a queer-focused art gallery, curated by Nathan Rapport.
Our East Side space was a true community center, offering storytelling shows, comedy, live music, art classes, tarot and witchcraft events, movie nights, author readings, pop-ups, drag shows, and gallery openings… it was fully exhausting, but exhilarating, and the bonds formed continue.
I look back on all we accomplished, and I’m grateful for the time, space, and joy A Love Bizarre offered to the LGBTQIA community. The shop closed in May due to COVID-19, but Neon Altar is still going strong online, and one day… we may see Neon Altar return to a post-vaccine, real-life queer witch shop!
(4) What was #1 your 2020 wrapped Spotify list? (we don’t judge.)
Honey! When I wasn’t vibing to vaporwave playlists, my #1 for the second year in a row is Post Malone. I can’t help it, dude has some stupid emotional bangers. My top song was Rain On Me (yes… GAGA!) and the new Beck album also had me obsessed.
(5) Where can people follow you/find you on social channels/the internet highway?
You can find more of Neon Altar at my cute-ass website!! www.NeonAltar.store.
Give @neonaltar a follow on Instagram to stay up-to-date on new drops, deals, and neonaesthetics.
You can see more of what I do… my art, my advertising career, and my mini-films at www.suzymae.com.
My personal IG is @suzy_mae, a wonderland of bisexual lighting and dark/ stupid humor.
