Check out Miriha Austin’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Miriha Austin.

Miriha, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am a multidisciplinary artist, living and working in South Central, Los Angeles, who utilizes words in multiple forms and practices to connect and educate people through arising conversations that challenge societal standards and conditions. I came into this practice slowly over the last 10 years or so. I shifted from fashion and photo to branding and management work. At the same time, as I was trying to pay my bills with this work, I was also running a magazine and creative collective. During this time, I began pooling my resources and utilizing the space I lived in as a hub for my creative network. Eventually, I became known as a connector in my circles as I was constantly placing like-minded strangers in spaces with intentions of facilitating organic connection. I love seeing these bonds play out in the form of creative work and strengthened community. As this became my identity, folks began to reach out to me specifically to be connected with someone and I started doing small-time consulting amongst friends and this practice birthed my conscious love for conversation. Friends started asking me to moderate panels and lead discussions. During this time, I decided to officially stop publishing work with TOAN, my magazine, strip it of its old look, content, and focus and get back to my original intent. This time, with more thought, time and boundary. That’s where I am now. The website is done, for the most part, I’m planning some community programming, both free and low-cost, and I’m just really excited to see what comes from the conversations that will be had.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
It’s part of my character to be creative in most, if not everything, that I do. I like to experiment in the kitchen, with my hair. I like to play with different mediums to sort of guide myself to an unknown but desired result if that makes sense. I started my artistic journey, on an intentional level, with photography. Photo is the foundation of my creative practice because its familiar to me and I am comfortable creating with the medium. However, writing is something that, to a point, comes naturally to me but I lack confidence in. So, I feel like my work is incomplete without a written component for that reason. The discomfort that writing imbues in me, is the reason I do it. It forces me to reflect, listen to self, and challenge myself creatively as it isn’t something I’ve formally studied or practiced. I’ve also been incorporating audio, mostly in the form of interviews and sounds of cultural environments, into my study.

How can artists connect with other artists?
You cannot be lonely if you are comfortable and happy with self. When you reach a space in your life where you can, alone, enjoy tasks often shared with the company, then you will be comfortable enough with self to share it. If I am feeling low in confidence or I begin to compare myself to others, I know I’m not in a space to be social. As far as creating, it’s a balance of collaboration and solitude. I need others to do research, to gain insight, to share stories and understand commonalities, but once I’ve collected these things, I pour over it alone.

I don’t want to advise any artist that they must collaborate with others because not everyone succeeds in utilizing the same process. What I can say is, that for artists of color, especially those identifying as Black, when we converse about our processes and intentions of our work, we crack open parts of our traumas they may not have seen as significant prior. I believe communication is everything and one of the most direct ways to communicate is through verbal language.

If we are all afraid to share what we feel or think, then, what sort of culture are we really pushing forward here?

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
A lot of the work I do can’t be seen attributed to me, but it’s out there. It’s out there in the form of cashed checks, signed contracts and new jobs for friends and others in my network. Some of the work that I present as my own can be seen published, most recently, with SYLA.Studio as well as with TOANMagazine.com

The best way to support my work is to engage with me. Nothing I do matters without the collaboration of others. I am someone who thrives when uplifting and servicing others. When I share, listen and engage and give feedback and extend that same love and courtesy to the folkalizers and creatives in my communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.toanmagazine.com/
• Email: miriha@toanmagazine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monakahlo/, @TOANMAG, @WeLoveLeimert, @ContemporaryArtOfColor
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonaKahlo

Image Credit:
Tundae Mena, Ari Surya, TOAN Magazine, Jennifer Johnson (JenJPhoto)

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