MUKA
It seems like we met you at the starting line of your art career. When did you start painting and how long have you been showing work?
I started painting when I was just a wee little babe but I started taking it seriously and quit my day job to start honing my skill at the end of 2019. As far as showing my work, I started my art instagram in mid-2019 to get my art out there and around the same time started the search for a gallery and shows to land in. I finally submitted to my first ever show with Shockboxx in May 2020 and things have just sort of been unraveling since.
Your current style has a really fun, snarky vibe to it. What inspires what you are working on and is this stuff where you began or has your style evolved from something else?
My style comes from a need to be authentic within myself and really discover who I am and what I love as a person. I grew up rather conservative and then in my teen years, through a series of unfortunate events, encountered lots of people who crushed my spirit along the way so as I became an adult, it's been tough to really balance what I think is expected of me and what I want to be. My first "real" paintings were my Who Is She? nude girls which were a real mental turning point for me that maybe if I was still struggling to be my most authentic self in real life that I could be my most authentic self in my art. All of my art stems from that idea which is why it's snarky and bold but my style has definitely evolved and is still evolving! I think it will always have that same foundation of wanting to heal and evolve as a person even if the work itself is different.
You are based in Los Angeles now but also talk about Houston. Where are you from and how did you get here?
Ah, Houston. My true love! I was born and raised right in the heart of HTOWN and actually never moved out of my childhood home until I decided to pack up my Jeep in August 2018 like a crazy, bright-eyed lady and drive to LA permanently! There are two reasons why I initially decided to move here. First reason is that I wanted to pursue a career in PR or social media/influencer management right after I graduated from college and well duh LA is the place for that! Second reason is, although Houston is my biggest love, it comes with a lot of pain. I lost my dad as a teenager and with that came a lot of other painful situations that I found myself in. I sort of lost my happiness and it just kept getting worse for me mentally and emotionally. From then on I felt disassociated internally so when I finally graduated I decided that maybe I needed a fresh start away from it all now that I had a diploma to make my family proud and a plan in LA to make me proud. Spoiler alert, I ended up trashing my plan of being in PR and thanks to the tremendous support and encouragement of my loved ones and my now fiance, I picked up a paint brush again and now I'm an artist!
We've seen you rocking custom jackets. Is this new, old, a direction you are heading? What future mediums do you see yourself working with?
The custom jackets started around the same time I started painting. I originally went that route because I was so focused on trying to make money with my art but then I was like, "Eww, this is stressful..I wanna make art for myself, not just for money". So that's why I sort of stopped painting jackets as a primary focus. I still plan on doing more in the future but right now I'm focused on growing my portfolio in more of a fine art way that will hopefully make it into the homes of collectors. I've recently started painting with fire and using the smoke from the candles to create work and it's been awesome so my future plan is to maybe venture into painting with colored smoke bombs to see what I can do with that! Also, I REALLY want to start getting into resin varnishing and sculpting. My ultimate goal with that is to create a sort of MUKA playhouse full of art and figurines that just make people feel freaking HAPPY!
What's up with the babies in your artwork? What inspires you in the studio?
My little babes are my little joys. They were born out of the idea and fact that being an adult actually kinda sucks sometimes haha. I wanted to portray things that we do or feel as adults but in a way that gives the perspective of a child since it's so simple there...just being happy, genuine and innocent about it all. That then evolved and inspires my current works in my studio. Everything is playful and sort of child-like but still has a bold or deeper meaning that most adults can relate to. I guess I can say that my main inspiration is the evolution of my own feelings through therapy and working on myself as a free adult.
New artists are always wondering how to find a gallery that fits for them. You just did that. How did it happen?
There was definitely a lot of modern-day stalking involved haha. I spent hours on Instagram just digging through hashtags and profiles of artists that had similar styles or interests as me. Eventually I landed on Shocboxx's page right when the "Love Hurts" show was having an open call and was like "Oh, they're cool". So I went through all of the photos on the Shockboxx instagram as well as all the pages of whoever they said was jurying their shows and it really solidified that THIS is where I could probably safely land. Soooo, I sat on it for a while just watching from a distance until I had the courage to submit to a show. Then came the "Don't Touch Your Face" show and I told myself, "Ok, just submit to it and worst case, they laugh at you and reject you then you can just go live in a cave somewhere" so I decided to go for it (I've learned since that a rejection from a show doesn't mean you suck since LOTS of other factors go into that decision). I honestly then had a moment where I changed my mind and wasn't even going to submit because I didn't have a lot of confidence in myself as an artist since it was my first ever submission. Then I did some more digging and found myself on Preston's podcast where Mike was talking about how he loves helping new artists and was giving tips on what to do and how to apply to shows. I decided that maybe this gallery was ACTUALLY pretty cool and chill and I'm glad that I went through with my submission because the Shockboxx family and community has just been such a freaking blast to be in company with. I worked hard to research and find a place that fit but I also just got super lucky and i'm grateful to have landed here.
