2024 Merit Scholarship Recipient: Moqui Joy

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

“The Channel” is the encompassing body of work I submitted for merits. Describing this entity would partially require watching it. There are so many limbs to this body of work, I am discovering new gardening techniques each day for managing such a creature. The work is essentially a liminal space, a surreal television channel. In which I, the TV network, am producing multiple series of shows. Each show is exercising a different medium, claymation, animation, experimental and destroyed film, live action, video glitch art, and performance art. Each show, while varying greatly in content, communicates a surreal, vibrant and avant atmosphere. For example, Days of Our Leaves is a soap opera where I use claymation to animate Chia Pets, while DANCE is a compilation of glitch art or “moving paintings” paired with DJ sets, creating an animated room for queer joy and celebration in dance. Additionally to this surreal video work, I deeply enjoy the meditative, patient, emotional exploration of oil painting. Each of the paintings submitted follows a colorfully saturated, fluid motion of line work that coalesces to create dream-like scenery in which I explore my personal spiritual practice.

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

I have been told that a degree will get me a job. This is no longer true due to the death rattles and captivated grip of capitalism. I came to MCAD to enrich my artist practice, develop new skills, meet other like-minded creatives and inspire myself to continue to pursue new avenues of thought. Decidedly so, this is not about a necessary piece of paper, but a pursuit of ideas and resources. Previously, I attended the U of M in their BFA program for painting.

What's next for your practice? Anything you're really excited to make?

For me, I am incredibly excited to continue to pursue the cultivation of shows I have already made for “The Channel” and continue to develop new ideas from a state of absurdity. This summer I will be doing glitch art at an EDM music festival called The Great Beyond. I’m really excited for this because I will be working with my cohort called Bound Space; a collective of wonderfully talented video artists and we have some exciting installation work planned! Beyond this, I would like to personally notify Adult Swim that I, in fact, am coming for you and I hope you read this.

Favorite thing about college life (so far)?

Having a chance to learn from women in the field of media arts is awesome, and really important to me as a young, queer, media artist. Project prompts are also really valuable to me, when given a box you get the chance to see what happens when you step out of it.

What inspires you?

It sounds corny, but my mother inspires me. She has always encouraged me to be a freak, be punk and to make art into play. She is an amazing artist, silversmith and raised me to create as a way of life. Other than her, my inspiration bounces around depending on the project I’m working on. Currently, I’m really inspired by the work of Annapurna Kumar, the animated film, “BellaDonna of Sadness” and surrealist theory by antifascist artist Claude Cahun.

Do you have a favorite piece you've made? Describe it!

My favorite piece I’ve made so far is a set of visual glitch art I created for a music festival called Prarie Fyre. Last summer I was invited to be a visual jockey at this festival and had the chance to work with talented musicians. We projected visuals onto a giant barn, trees and the surrounding area. It was immersive and so fun to see people dancing in a world I created, it brought it to life in a way I hadn’t thought possible.

Anything you're obsessed with at the moment?

The sensation of the color green, ephemeral and elusive, the way light filters through honey and the way smell evokes memory.

Lastly, do you have a favorite question we didn't ask? Tell us and answer it!

If you could live in a world with universal basic income, food as a human right and housing as a human right, what would you do with yourself? How would your world look? Do you like oranges? How many times do you think you've thought ‘I Love You’ and not said it? Does that bother you? Do you still love them? What does memory feel like to you and how do you hold it? Answers submit to: moquijoy27@gmail.com