Advocacy Through Art
December 2020 - January 2021
Art empowers us to creatively address the challenges of inequity, hate, discrimination, and oppression that have been fundamental in shaping our reality and that affect us and the people we care about everyday. Now, more than ever, people are speaking out about topics such as social and racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s rights, mental health, disability awareness, and environmentalism.
We create art not only to reflect on or challenge the world in which we live, but also to educate and mobilize those with different experiences. Art is a lens through which we can learn to understand, empathize, and listen more deeply and intentionally to ourselves and to others.
At OCA Mocha, we’re dedicated to uplifting the voices of local artists and we value the diversity and inclusivity of our community. We are continually inspired by your artistic efforts to be agents of change. After a long year of violence and uncertainty, we’d like to focus on the work of those who have and will continue to make a difference and advocate for change in our community and, ultimately, our world.
- Curated by Madeline Arbutus, Visual Art & Media and Communication Studies UMBC 2022
This gallery features works that explicitly reference topics such as sexual assault and racial discrimination. If you have a difficult reaction, we encourage you to contact the UMBC Counseling Center or other support systems you may have access to. UMBC Counseling Center: 410-455-2472, 8:30am-5pm (For Students Only)
Zoë Pekins
We can’t stop, Howard County, MD, 2020, 36’’ x 24’’, digital photography, $375
just the beginning, Howard County MD, 2020, 24’’ x 36’’, digital photography, $375
–
Nic Koski
I Will Never Leave the Island, August 2020, 35’’ x 15’’, mixed media, $150
At the time I’m writing this, over 290,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19. At the time you’re reading this, that number has probably already surpassed 300,000. Many more have been living in relative isolation for months. The people who have been most affected include those who are autistic and intellectually disabled, people of color, LGBTQ+, chronically ill, incarcerated, and elderly. Despite the risk, many people, particularly conservative leaders and media, refuse to take proper precautions or outright deny the full reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blatant disregard for fellow human life seems to only be growing in the United States. Will a vaccine really end this? While I’ve been self-isolating and working when it’s possible and needed, the reality of COVID-19 and my disposability as a Disabled Queer person has been constantly present.
IG: @koskinic
_
Martina Maya-Callen
2, 4, 6, 8— It Costs Too Much To Menstruate, “Breads and Roses” Women’s March in London England, 2019, 19’’ x 16’’, digital photography
Labeled, 2018, 19’’ x 16’’, photograph of performance art
This performance regarding Women’s Rights took place in Belgrade, Serbia. The audience was invited to type words regarding their perspective on a women’s role in society both in english and serbian which then would be projected onto my body. It navigated the similarities and differences in the way that women are elevated and degraded in society.
Secrets, 2016, 19’’ x 16’’, photograph of art installation
This installation is regarding sexual assault and how as a survivor, sometimes it feels as though you are holding onto a huge secret in a lock box that weighs us down. The keys represent the people in our lives who try to be there for us, but don’t truly know what is going on. So we are unable to open up.
SURVIVORS, 2018, 19’’ x 16’’, digital
This is a collection of stories from sexual assault survivors throughout the world. This piece hopes to elevate the voices of survivors while working towards the eradication of violence.
I am an interdisciplinary artist who uses art as a catalyst for social change by spreading awareness within society. My voice was stripped from me for so long and through my artwork not only do I reclaim my voice, I advocate for those who share my story. The topics that I have focused on breaking the stigma around are mental health illnesses, sexual assault, the global economic inequality crisis, and women’s rights issues. As a long-time advocate for spreading awareness for mental health and women’s issues, I have been featured on television, radio shows, and magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, and Bustle for breaking the silence and stigma on topics often ignored. My installation sculpture and performance art piece was listed among the top 13 most inspiring body positive moments of 2017 by Cosmopolitan.
Instagram: @martinamayacallen
Website: www.martinamayacallen.com
–
Ruby Bassford
Migraine, 2020, 10’’ x 13’’, digital photography, $35
Chronic illness, and the pain that accompanies it, can appear invisible. Migraine visually depicts how painful and intense symptoms are, especially symptoms that are not always explicit. Similarly, disabled and chronically ill people’s pleasure often goes unnoticed, and all of the pleasure that intersects with a range of identities, sexualities, orientations and genders. Blurring pleasure and pain, whether it be masochism, sadism or other types of play, disability becomes a part of the experience.
Email: rmbassford@smcm.edu
Website: rubybassfordart.wixsite.com
–
Elphena J. Elsar
Beautiful Oasis, June 2019, 24’’ x 18’’, acrylic paint, chalk, & crushed glass
This piece is one of my favorite pieces to date. It is very special to me because it is the representation of my mother with all that she has been through. My mother was diagnosed with Metastatic stage 3 Breast Cancer in January of 2019. As you can imagine, it completely flipped our worlds into a scared unpredictable one but through it all, she held and is still holding onto her strong and positive outlook of life, very tightly. I knew everything about her physical appearance will be altered after the treatments so I wanted to remember the vibrancy of her by capturing it in this art like many others. The orange color exemplifies the boldness and strong spirit she possesses while the blue crush glass that drips down represents the calm and chaos in her life. The white outline around her represents the glory that surrounds and separates her from the current situation that life has thrown her way. She may be frightened but she’s fierce enough to face adversity like a saint she is. She lives life majestically knowing cancer can not stand a chance. Yes, this piece of bold art was inspired by my mother however, it is for anyone and everyone confident enough to look life in its face and challenge every hits, crushes, and chaos it brings because they are only temporary. There is an oasis in every deserted situation; find it!
Instagram: @rasle_with_elphena
–
Hope Bullard
The Invisible Ones, October 2020, 18’’ x 24’’, acrylic on stretched canvas
1 of 3- Gentleman lying on backpack
2 of 3- Gentleman sitting with back against the wall
3 of 3- Gentleman sleeping on sidewalk
Prints: $100 each, Full series: $2,200
The Invisible Ones series explores the truth that because homelessness makes us uncomfortable (simply by nature of their existence), we choose not to see it. The challenge was how to incorporate both daily life and homelessness, supposed opposing dynamics, in one piece. I chose the simplest rout. The raw feeling prevented any other interpretation. In the end, are those without faces the “invisible one”? Or are they the ones we are choosing to see?
Instagram: @stickfigureacrylics
–
Marissa Clayton
Own Up and Clean Up!, November 2020, 11’’ x 17’’, Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop, $18
The burden of climate change is often imposed on individuals and their actions, rather than holding large corporations accountable for the pollution they create. It’s time for companies to accept the responsibility and act on the damage they create.
Instagram: clam4_
–
Chuck Fischer
Missing You, 2020, 17’’ x 21’’, Acrylic on paper, $110
It’s important to show these images because, before a couple years ago, there was no same sex marriage and those marriages didn’t get recognized. The change allows me and my boyfriend to consider marriage.
Untitled (A Kiss), 2020, 21’’ x 17’’, Colored pencil and ink, $110
This is for the LGBTQ community. This is for humanity.
Instagram: @makestudiobmore
Website: www.make-studio.org
–
Iragi Lya Nkere
Hot Button Issues, 2020, 16’’ x 13’’, Pen and ink, $110
Everyone knows Hot Button issues means an issue that elicits strong emotional reactions & All that Endangering the Welfare of a Minor, Cyberbullying, Self Destructive & the Undermine have definitely gone way too far.
Instagram: @makestudiobmore
Website: www.make-studio.org
–
Tino Clemente
Lone Survivor, May 29, 2020, 22’’ x 16’’, Digital photography, $125
This image was taken during the DC BLM Protests on the night that Trump was in the bunker at a pproximately at 2 am, after tear gas had been shot on the crowd shortly prior.
After finding sobriety, Art became an integral part of my existence. I began to search for a deeper meaning in life and found photography as an outlet to explore and analyze the issues I have encountered in the world.
In my work, I strive to capture interesting and captivating scenes that draw my audience into the world the piece inhabits as well as question it. The use of colours, or the lack thereof, plays a major role in achieving the surrealistic and sometimes euphoric scenes I utilize to accomplish this. My goal as an artist will forever be to create a dialog surrounding my subjects- Anyone can capture a gorgeous image but few can make someone stop to think.
Instagram: @tino.clemente
Website: www.tinoclemente.com
–
Kris McElroy
Moving Forward, I am Me, 2016, 14’’ x 20’’, Mixed media
Expression of how moving forward, I am a fighter and a survivor throughout navigating life through all its ups and downs and through my progressive neuromuscular disease, autoimmune disease; having autism spectrum disorder and mental illness; and sexual assault and abuse. Moving forward, my life and health challenges are all a part of who I am, not all of who I am, but a part that will continue to help shape me wherever the journey of my life travels.
Lifting Up All Voices, 2020, 11’’ x 14’’, Mixed media, $25
Overcoming Limits and Reaching the Stars with Adaptive Recreation & Sports, 2019, 12’’ x 24’’, Mixed media, $25
No Less, 2020, 12’’ x 14’’, Marker and paint
Artistic Expression standing up against all the messages I received that told me different parts of who I am were less than and made wrong. No part of my identity is wrong. Those messages received were wrong.
–
Liam Garrett
Founder of the Digital Art Movement
Tiger, 2018, 28’’ x 28’’, Digital art & woodworking, $179, 5% profit on all prints go to World Wildlife Fund
This tiger is drawn out of 5,287 vector shapes. The vector flames created in this piece reflect the fierce nature of the tiger as it stares back at the viewer. Historically, tigers have been hunted for their pelts and are now a critically endangered species with 3,900 tigers left in the wild. The frame is crafted out of Spalted Sycamore. Spalted wood occurs when a fungus grows within the tree, and alters the wood patterns with dark figures. This creates grain patterns that look like they have been outlined with a fine point Sharpie. Spalting emphasizes the variety of colors present in the wood. One of the things I love about woodworking and art is that you can find beauty in the strangest of places – even places where fungus grows.
Elephant, 2018, 29’’ x 29’’, Digital art & woodworking, $179, 5% profit on all prints go to World Wildlife Fund
Years ago, I went on a hike and took my Pantone paint deck with me for fun. I was inspired by the natural colors of the late October forest, so I logged my color matches into a notebook. This elephant is drawn using those 72 colors from Maryland trees and leaves. I wanted to portray the grace of an elephant in autumn colors using trees for form. The leaves carried by the wind follow the Fibonacci sequence. The wind also acts as a tool to describe their fate – an uncertainty of the future. There are roughly 30,000 Asian elephants left on earth. Elephants have been hunted by poachers for monetary gain in the illegal ivory trade. The frame is crafted out of Birdseye Maple. This species of maple grows in extremely poor soil leaving unhealthy trees with failed branches. The little dots (or eyes) you see are those failed limbs. This quilted look creates a distortion in the grain that makes the wood reflect light like a gemstone. If you shine a light over the frame you will see many hills which form under these Birdseyes. There is a bittersweet beauty we can find in our failures that eventually shape our successes.
Instagram: @digital.art.movement
Website: www.digitalartmovement.com
–
Benjamin Jancewicz
Malcolm X, 2015, 20’’ x 20’’, Vector on canvas, $200
Jada Pinkett Smith, 2013, 20’’ x 20’’, Vector on canvas, $200
Margaret Mead, 2012, 20’’ x 20’’, Vector on canvas, $200
Frederick Douglass, 2013, 20’’ x 20’’, Vector on canvas, $200
I create art using new techniques for an age-old purpose: to tell stories and inspire action. As a child, I was inspired by cartoons; drawn characters and stories brought to life with no visible brushstrokes or shading. My fascination for that aesthetic met its match in my discovery of vector art. After producing photography, sketch and graphic design work years, the vector technique brought me full creative fulfillment for the first time. Now I use the painstaking process to create pieces that share positive messages using unique color palettes, detailed shapes and countless nuances of light, shadow, and mid-tonal values. My work often uses themes themes of love, cultural understanding, fantasy and futurism to appeal to and inspire the imagination of diverse audiences. I believe that art should be accessible but that accessibility need not compromise quality. I believe that artists should be kind but that kindness need not compromise courage and honesty. And I try my best to live and create in a way that honors both of those beliefs.
My current show, Who Said What, is a collection that combines my love for engaging people in the creation of my art as well as my desire to reimagine quotes that move people to live better lives. The creation process begins with a call for quotes to be submitted. I then do careful research and select a unique photograph of the quote’s author, typically in their youth, imagining them as my peer. Using the reference image, I draw the piece itself inspired by 1950s and 60s screen printing, interior design and album covers. Each piece has a unique color palette and font from an up-and-coming typographer.
This series has grown as people become inspired by it and add to it, but it has also spawned inspiration for new collections. As I grow as an artist, I hope that people continue to draw the same level of enjoyment from engaging with my work as I do from creating it.
Website: art.zerflin.com
–
Qrcky
Coco Hue, March 2020, 30’’ x 40’’, Oil on canvas, Prints $49-89
Emit light or Emit Till, March 2020, 30’’ x 40’’, Oil on canvas, Prints $19.50-$28
My work explores the relationship between Black diaspora sensibilities and urban spaces. With influences as diverse as Kara Walker and Jean-Michel Basquiat, new synergies are crafted from both constructed and discovered layers. Currently living in Baltimore, I am interested in the sensation of moving, the deconstruction and reassembly of surfaces, and of forgetting and remembering what has come before.
Empathy is in the eyes of the beholder. My art explores the loss of empathy on something you’re not familiar with and that disconnect. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present. That conflict is the artistic product of Surrealism. What lies beyond, what hides, is the very opposite of the visible. Through symbols, their elements transform and change before our eyes, but they have been touched, transformed, if you like, by other things, other signs. Surrealism is that which is formed through the coexistence and opposition of things. It is a total image of things without one of them being seen, not shown, not expressed. In all its works, my work is trying to see beyond the visible. The process is then not a reflection, but a transformation, a reaction, a flow of feeling from Surrealism to the spectator, as if the spectator were the creator of what appears to him. My work has become a way to reach the Truth, it has developed within me the ability to reflect and respond, even to betray myself and to show other things. The painting has been consumed by the subjective consciousness, the mirror has been corrupted and the image distorted, but it has still remained, what has not disappeared is still there, it is waiting to be transformed.
IG: @Qrcky
Website: www.Qrcky.net
–
Jessie Houff
Unapologetic, 2019, 4’ x 4’, Acrylic, graphite, and books, $500
LGBTQ+ inclusivity - growing up with a religious background informed how I live today. Unfortunate that my church denomination still believes homosexuality is unforgivable. Unapologetic is a piece that represents myself not letting others’ definitions of a spiritual person dictate how I live my life. Here the viewer can see me taking a bow to those who see me as unholy. I hold true to my beliefs and I will continue to do so unapologetically.
Medusa, 2018, 15’’ x 11’’, Linoleum cut print on paper, $40
I advocate for truth. While Medusa may be a mythical creature, her story represents women who are demonized for their beauty, who are victims and survivors of sexual assault. We are told Medusa was a horrid woman, when her story reveals she was tortured because a man assaulted her. This is Medusa as she truly is: beautiful, not a monster, smiling.
Instagram: @jessiehouffart
Website: jessiehouffart.com