Today we’d like to introduce you to Mee Jey.
Hi Mee, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I am an Indian artist. My journey began around 11 years ago at the time when my academic life hit a roadblock for no fault of mine. On contemplation, I realised my interest in art. When I returned back for my research, art became the focus and eventually, I decided to pursue art. In early years of my practice, I realised the gap between art world and the society which led me to start a relational art project ‘ARTOLOGUE: Art for All’ in India with my partner Jey Sushil. We painted around 80 murals all over India engaging families, schools and communities to prove the point that Art is for all. The community art project led me to US State Department’s Legislative fellowship and then McDonnell fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis where I earned my second Master’s degree in visual arts in 2019.
My relational community project continued here in US where I worked in collaborations with 5 institutions with people of different physical and cognitive abilities, besides the undocumented immigrants in Texas. Now I am an immigrant mother and my art reflects my day to day concerns of being a mother and an immigrant. I continue to exhibit my works in St. Louis and India.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life has never been smooth for me. Coming from a non-artist background and choosing to become an artist was itself a challenge. There was not much support to such an idea from my lower-middle-class family. Even after my MFA at WashU, it has not been an easy road in America as my legal, political, social situation depends upon the decisions made by the government. I am not eligible for many work and fellowship opportunities in US as an ‘alien’, the legal status used for foreigners, making my personal life a reflection of the global immigration politics.
My practice is dialogical. It is in constant conversation with the time and space I occupy and, is steered by the challenges experienced. I use my constraints as my guide and work with whatever is available to me, even if it is considered a waste for others. I work with fabric donated by people and found objects. (This is also part of realization that in the US, people discard a sizeable amount of fabric every year.) The found objects, for me, is not an abstract idea or a conceptual theme as projected by theorists but it is my lived reality.
My house is full of scavenged furnitures and a variety of other materials that I use accordingly for art and utility purposes.
I would not like to call it a struggle (though it is) but an experience to cherish and learn. The struggles or as I call it ‘experiences’ make you a better human being and hopefully a better artist.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
1. I am a multi-disciplinary artist and I work in different mediums that best suit the idea.
2. I have exhibited my paintings & drawings, photograph-based performance, sculptural installations and live performance, both, in India and St. Louis.
3. My specialisation is to make best use of any available resources or lack of it. I want my art to have a connection with the society and I try to engage them in all possible ways. In last 4 + years, most of my works are created from repurposed fabric and other materials. I find it equally challenging, stimulating and eventually satisfying to use whatever material is available to me.
4. I am proud of all my works but the community-based artworks in India and US, are one of the most cherished experiences and learnings in my art career. In US, Also, working with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival group for Christmas Carol window displays in 2020 was another high moment of my life. Currently, I am engaged in the Hostile Terrain-94 project, led by anthropologist Jason De Leon. It is a project of documenting immigrants who died attempting to entered into the border of US through the Arizona desert. Recently, I created a 21×12 feet fabric drawing of a ( Ayan Kurdi, the Syrian) child who was found on the sea shore as a memorial on his 6th death anniversary for the Paint Louis event. The art work was displayed on the Graffiti Wall / Flood Wall in St Louis.
5. I believe my experiences and ability to work with diverse communities and any kind of material, sets me apart from other artists. My skills to utilize any form of locally available resource, including human resources, to collaborate with the host community to create art requires exceptional mental flexibility, is born out of my experiments in India and the US.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I hold a master’s degree in history and archeology before my MFA at WashU.
I have travelled to 18 states of India on a motorbike with my partner Jey Sushil, creating over 80 murals with host communities since 2013.
I have Mazeophobia despite having travelled far and wide.
I am a synesthete. I see shapes and colours when I hear a sound.
Contact Info:
- Email: meejey03@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.meejey.com/
- Instagram: @mee_jey
- Facebook: Mee Jey
- Twitter: @artologue
- Youtube: ARTOLOGUE
Image Credits
@rjhartbeck
@landon_taylor
@jeysushil
@mee_jey
@the_same_axis
Vanessa Rudloff
