Hypmotive Hub

The idea for Hypmotive (pronounced hip-motive) – a retail platform for emerging Australian artists and creatives – struck its owners, Renee and Jake Russo, after they moved to the inner west and found themselves regularly visiting local markets. They started Hypmotive to help artists gain exposure and make local art more accessible to the community.

As well as selling products in its online store and assisting with social-media marketing, Hypmotive gives artists a bricks-and-mortar store to stock their wares. The store is reminiscent of a sleek gallery and contains a carefully curated selection of homewares, fashion, jewellery and artwork from all over Australia.

There’s handcrafted jewellery from Marrickville silversmith Metal by Mitch, ethically produced tencel womenswear from the Sunshine Coast, artwork by Dave King (a self-taught artist from Orange who works with charcoal) and Indigenous art from the Utopia region in the Northern Territory.

The Russos run workshops in their upstairs studio, including kokedama (an ancient Japanese technique that binds a plant’s root system with moss and string) and resin art classes. The space is also available to hire for exhibitions.