STUDIO VISIT

MZ HOMEGOING

MZ HOMEGOING

Image description:
A mural we did the other day in Venice Beach, California with the love and support of our multigenerational Central American family, who have been the back bone of this land since it was stolen. In us we trust.

Let’s get personal

So much of our work is about relationships. The majority of our members are related and if not by blood, they are chosen families with long-time roots and a commitment to each other.

This winter’s trip was entitled the ‘homegoing’. for this trip we decided to take half the members to California to reconnect develop and explore our relationships with family and origin. This trip is wonderfully mystic. We visited the aunties. Childhood homes, grandparents, childhood friends. We are were also brand new, we explored, played, and skated through places we loved, new places, and places we learned, were hurt and fumbled through in our early years.

When most of the work you do is an acute examination of proportions and relationships it’s important to dig into that on a personal intimate level…and it’s not always easy to do this work. We world build in our art as a way of escape as well as find inspiration…but these relationships require us to do the grounding part and that’s not always easy. This trip was all that stuff.

We threw bones with Mama and grandma…maybe graduating to the adult table.

We listened to love stories. We ran from drama and tried to let the difficult people be who they are but we adjusted our proximity by staying further away and not adding to that narrative…aka adjusting our proportions, a method heavily relied upon in collage and arrangement work.

We have been on an archiving project for the past few years. It shows up in our work from time to time…kinda low key, but it’s generally there. On this trip we digitized VHS tapes, and boxes of family photos…but mostly we listened to love stories.

We slept, sunbathed, tried on new characters, we drew, photographed, cooked, tufted, watched hummingbirds, Signed contracts, rejected contracts, partnered with some fly partners on some dope projects…soon come.

We are watering and loving up on ourselves so that we can bust out some nifty flowers once our roots get stronger.

What are y’all doing to take care of yer selves?
What’s yer love story?


GET IT TOGETHER

TOGETHER MURAL

Photography by Lee Hopkins

Today our piece ‘Together’ was officially accepted into the collection of the City of Boston.
This project was unique. It’s taken us some time to process and fully and articulate the experience. For the team and me, it was a practice of radical empathy, love, boundaries, and the balance between. We are in it, but not of it.

CONTEXT:
The Engagement Center is located in an area of Boston referred to as methadone mile. The sidewalks are home to many. Tents fill the sidewalks, bleed out to the streets and little orange caps are everywhere…so many little orange caps. We were advised to be mindful of touching anything because it may have fentanyl on it. There is a homeless shelter on one end of the block, the engagement tent behind the shelter, and a police department one block over. Most major US cities have areas like this because addiction is real, capitalism and lack of affordable housing is real and our society struggles with meeting people where they are at.

THE AWARD
The Engagement Center has a new building, and we were asked to put some magic on the exterior. When we were initially awarded the project, the one thing we noted early on was the manner in which folks described the area and constantly gauged our comfort level with creating and engaging with the community…we just don’t have language that fully acknowledges and dignifies people that suffer from addiction and homelessness…so we hear the apologetic tone in which we (ourselves included) describe the community….one that we are inherently connected to.

IN SERVICE TO EACH OTHER
Here’s the long and short, people are people…all people. Folks go through stuff, some get luck, and various privileges that afford them a ‘good look’ but at the end of the day none of that matters cuz if one suffers we all will suffer.

Folks are out here doing the work tho. We met poets, witnessed bonds, dedicated outreach, and love…all in what has a surface appearance of chaos.

We were honored and humbled to be able to use art to be in service. Mario, Sabrina, Natalie, and the whole Engagement Center staff are modeling what it is like to just show up for folks…over and over again. We got a chance to chat with folks, experience some real rachet shit, and also be held and have our intentions of focusing on connected supported community mirrored.

THE ART
We decided to do something a bit different to make the piece more accessible. As much as we love celebrating figurative narratives, we felt that it was better suited to go with a slightly abstracted text-driven theme. Our thinking was that, If all you got from the art was color therapy and a sense of play, then it still hit. We know what it’s like to not be seen and just want to let the staff and guests of the engagement center know that they are seen.

Please love up on yer folks. We gotta do it together and get it together.

We’d like to acknowledge and extend gratitude to the City of Boston’s Transformative Public Art Program and the Mayor’s Office of Art and Culture for supporting and generously funding this project. We would also like to thank Street Theory Gallery for helping us all Get it Together!

Much gratitude and love…it’s a journey ya’ll.


THE FULL SET

THE FULL SET: ARCHIVE

We did the damn thing. @kendrasteppdavis and the whole collective came to show all the way out! The Full Set is HERE! @theculurerooms is HERE….and we are very extra.

Huge gratitude to all of our peeps old and new that came out to support, chill and celebrate The Full Set. Big shout out to the universe for granting us a summer day in October.

Doing things together is fun.

Taking up space is a must.

Being fly while doing it is essential.

📸 Courtesy of @dodai

PICS FROM THE EVENT


BET MURAL: SINCE DAY

BET MURAL: SINCE DAY

It’s been hella hard to sit on announcing this.

We have a new mural in collaboration with @bet . It’s called ‘Since Day…’

This piece is an exploration of rhythm and movement. It is an ode and mirror of trends, styles, and expressions of culture that we’ve shared and continue to share with the world. It’s a bold celebration of us. ‘Since Day’ visual depicts the grit, flow, and beautiful connections that swirl throughout Philadelphia. We are inspired by the stories, community, music, and soul of this city. We hope to reflect that back in this piece.

Located at 5729 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144.

Big shout out out to the @overallmurals team for making it happen and having me out here on this big wall with the Lil brushes.

#mural #mzicar #blackcanvas #betblackcanvas #germantown #philadelphia #paint #big #walls #streetart #muralist

BET MURAL LOCATION


FLUIDITY MURAL

FLUIDITY MURAL

SUMMER OF 2021: This piece is called FLUIDITY
and it’s hella big.

Have you ever listened to the ‘slave’ narratives recorded in conjunction with the WPA project? If not, stop scrolling and listen now. The sounds of the ancestors voices recalling there experiences of basically being responsible for the physical embodiment of wealth in this nation is chilling. The most memorable part of it is that folks were in there own bodies. Meaning, I could hear who these people are, which is way more than the exploits. They/We are beautifully expansive.

It’s no coincide that I, along with my amazing collective are out here in mid 90deg weather getting eating by mosquitoes and loved up by the sun on Juneteenth. We are humbled and honored to be here.

I often think about the folks who decided to migrate to Texas to skirt emancipating Black folks. How blown outta their minds they must have been to be that outta touch. I think about the blended lineage and often ponder the ancestral stories that comes with continuing to share space with such oppressive folks. Some folks gotta learn to share and some folks gotta take up more space.

We take freedom hella seriously. Part of being free is understanding that we are all intricately connected and that comes with responsibility. It requires accountability and humility. Marginalized folks tend to do the heavy lifting in this particular understanding and that needs to change…like right now…like yesterday.

The blood that pumps through my veins is the blood of folks who originate from this land, Africa, the Caribbean, the south and even includes some colonizer juice. It has traveled continents, built nations and most incredibly it simply exists.

Today I give thanks/honor the ancestors in the best way I know… by painting us huge and glorious and black as ever. Hanging with my peeps, eating fresh food, randomly twerking, getting in some good laughs and avoiding all situations that require kissing my teeth or rolling my eyes. What ya’ll gonna do with yerselves on this glorious day?

#representationmatters

Happy independence day aka Juneteenth.

Big up to the @seismigue team for sharing space.

SEISMIQUE ART MUSEUM


OF EXPANSION

OF EXPANSION

We made a movie…a short one…but still a movie! And it won Best Experimental film in the Imagine This Women’s Film Festival!

‘Of Expansion’ is a short film inspired by quarantine musings and art-making. Here’s the website for the film

This is a trippy studio visit follows 2 puppets through a time and space distorted art exhibition. The visit features a collection of collages, photography, banners, textile studies, and mixed media pieces exploring ‘what is the ideal scenario and how do we get there?’

Over the last year and a half the Mz.Icar collective has spent time working on studies, manifestations, and visual messages that are prayers for what we’d like to see and feel in the future. Given the intersectional history of oppression, inequity, and violence that makes up the legacy of America, It can be challenging to truly envision our society in an ideal way. This collection of work embodies a vision board that does just that. This group of work focuses on an alternative centricity, It’s a celebration of our voice, a lesson in play, and a focus in joy. It draws from the traditions of church banners, propaganda and flags as symbols of things we believe in and have cultural relevance.

Thematically this group of work is an experiment in world-building. It is set out to be a foundational vision board for what could be.

Featuring Rielle Love and digital effects by The Kinardist


STUDIO VISIT: MAS

MAS

My earliest memories consist of watching my grandmother, her sisters, and brothers wine to the wee hours of the morning to tiny whiny and various old school soca tunes. I often joke that soca is the techno of black music. If you want to hang at a soca jam it requires stamina. There is no standing on the walls there is no chilling off to the side. Soca envelopes you.

In 2016 I attended Trinidad’s carnival for the first time. Being of Caribbean descent, carnival, soca music, and the culture, in general, was very familiar. This trip was special because it was the first time that I experienced this culture fully embraced by society. In Toronto you have Caribana and it’s fun but the city tolerates Caribana because it brings in so much money. In New York you have the West Indian Labor Day parade and that’s a good time except for that time I almost got ran over by a cop trying to disperse crowds. New York also seems to tolerate the West Indian Day parade. But Trinidad is down for the whole thing. Municipal buildings are closed carnival in Trinidad. This is a nationwide celebration. Throughout the days leading up to the Mas, You can hear various steel pan ensembles practicing throughout Port au Spain from late at night till the early hours of the morning. You can peek into storefronts that are filled with costumes in various states of completion.

To experience that particular version of carnival was a freedom that I had never ever seen. One of the great things about it is that it’s a multi-generational event So you see your grandma, your auntie’s, the children everybody participating. The whole place shuts down just to have this release. It’s a celebration of color, movement, dancing, everything and it seems like everyone understands that this releases imperative to the workings of society.

Waiting to get through customs I conversed with a gentleman who told me he had been slowly upping his intake and alcohol so that he could be ready for the amount of fetes that he was going to have. A fetes a party, or lively gathering, for many of them the ticket price includes food and liquor. You have breakfast fetes, boat fetes, dinner fats lunch fest pre carnival fetes etc. Throughout carnival you’ll often see people with multiple plastic bracelets that act as tickets to various fetes.

Before we get into these lovely bodies and reminders of warm sunlight on our skin, let’s get into the history of the celebration. Carnival is a Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent.

From an anthropological point of view, carnival is a reversal ritual, in which social roles are reversed and norms about desired behavior are suspended.

And like most things in this region of the world black folks got a hold of carnival and took it to the next level, these elaborate multi-day celebrations. They were not invited to the ceremonies of their masters and would put on their own festivals making fun of their masters and so this became a partially satirical event.

This whole experience got me really thinking about the idea of being completely free losing one’s inhibitions and being able to practice ceremony without judgment, over-policing, or unnecessary parameters. Basically, what’s it like to be free? How do we cultivate ways in which we can perpetually tap into that experience?

Years later many some of the images I shot on this experience would be used for various design projects particularly for Machell Montana’s soca volume one and soca volume two both of these design projects sit extremely dear to my heart as they depict current visual representations of us by us. They depict rarely publicly displayed cross-generational expressions of freedom and joy within blackness.

I’m reflecting on this experience in a chilly 23 degree Philadelphia artist space. I’m sharing this because in a time where it’s so challenging to gather, be around people and share this type of energy I hope these images serve as a reminder that it exists and It’s part of our narrative.


Value: In Terms of Iconography

VALUE FEATURED IN PHOTOVILLE

Hi 👋🏾 party people. We are so excited to share a collaborative project that we have been working with Erin Patrice O’Brien on. Let’s start at the very, very beginning. We met Erin Patricia O’Brien a few years back while working under a different name. We were not new to her images as she is a veteran in the game of photography. One of our members has fond memories of going through vibe magazine, swooning over O’Brien’s work, and pretty much beginning to carve her own creative identity.

Creativity doesn’t live in a vacuum. We firmly believe that everyone is inspired by everything that they take in around them from images, sound smells, movies, experiences etc. The ability to see yourself or the potential of yourself in terms of being a woman, being black, being a person of color in mainstream and celebrated is such an honor and a gift as far as personal development goes. As creatives that identify as ‘arrangers’, we are often collecting things both literally and conceptually that serves as a palette for us to work with. It has been a real fun time to include Erin Patrice O’Brien’s archives in the mix of that palette. We sit on the back of so many other creatives who have paved the way for us, This project is a homage, archival study, and celebration of all the shoulders that we sit on.

We had the pleasure of going through O’Brien’s archives and remixing them in celebration of the value it is to see yourself in terms of iconography.

This project has been in the works for a little bit over a year. We wanted to make sure that it has its proper reverence as it does deal with value. We are super excited to announce that some of the images from this collaboration along with additional collages and photographs by Mz. Icar will be on display in downtown Brooklyn as part of this year’s Photoville exhibition.

The work will be on public display at Brooklyn Bridge Park – Pier 4 Beach September 17th -November 29th 

Very limited edition prints are for sale please hit us up, mz@mzicar.com for the price list.

ABOUT PHOTOVILLE

The Photoville Festival, New York City’s FREE premier photo destination, returns for a ninth year in a different way – online community and artist programming plus photo exhibitions in public spaces throughout New York City.

This annual community gathering features public exhibitions, virtual storytelling events, artist talks, workshops, demonstrations, educational programs, and community programming. The Photoville Festival provides an accessible venue for photographers and audiences from every walk of life to engage with each other, and experience thought-provoking photography from across the globe – with free admission for all!

Check out the website photoville.nyc for more details.


THE FUTURE...IF YOU WANT IT

THE FUTURE... IF YOU WANT IT

In this week’s studio visit we do some time traveling in this video and we play outside. Please check it out and share with yer friends and frienemies.

Enjoy our latest studio visit and share it with a friend.

There are a lot of things you shouldn’t really be sharing these days but this vid isn’t one of them 🙂


STUDIO VISIT: THAT NEW NEW

THAT NEW NEW

This period of isolation has been wonderful for us in the studio. There are so many concepts, ideas, and collaborations that we have started and have been unable to finish due to commissioned work. This break from traditional gathering and socializing has allowed us to dive into these more and focus our efforts on that work.

That being said we do feel a lot of guilt around finding pleasure in this and our hearts go out to everybody who has been affected by this virus. The death toll is insane and very hard for us to wrap our heads around, as well as the economic and emotional effects that this has had on the world. We also have our emotions around the treatment of Black Folks, senseless murders and attacks on joy.  We do believe at any given moment multiple realities and perspectives are going on all the time. There is the reality and experience that we are having and there is the reality and experience that every other being is having as well. We acknowledge and hold space for all of those.

Let’s chat about our lastest processes, experience and manifestations. In this studio visit, we share our process, our thoughts, our themes of exploration as well as our collaborative projects. We are gearing up for a show called ‘The Church of expansion’. It will include a series of collages prints canvases banners and other mixed-media works. It also includes the collaboration print series with Erin Patrice O’Brien. We also chat about the origins of our character Matilda and an animation project that has Tanya Farmer teaching her (and you) yoga.

Enjoy our latest studio visit and share it with a friend.

There are a lot of things you shouldn’t really be sharing these days but this vid isn’t one of them 🙂