Mee Jey, MFA

Mee Jey, MFA

Artist. Mother. Immigrant. Activist.

Mee Jey is an Indian artist-mother, whose sensibilities are shaped by the mythologies and folk lore of India, historical accounts of past, archaeological remains of ancient India and her travels to the length and breadth of Indian subcontinent.  She has MFA from Sam Fox School of Arts, Washington University in St. Louis (2019), Master’s degree in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University and MPhil in Liberal Arts from Ambedkar University in Delhi. Recipient of McDonnell International Scholarship (2017-19) and USA States Fellowship LFP (2017), Mee’s works have been exhibited in India and in St. Louis. Currently she is practicing from St. Louis, USA


Artist’s Statement

I create a nurturing ecosystem through my practice that assures the survival and growth of artists and the larger community. This happens through a generous exchange of ideas, materials and continuous dialogue between the two. Since this dialogical aspect is a significant part of my art projects, process becomes as significant as final form/s. My approach to ideas is interdisciplinary that ranges between drawing to paintings, sculptural installations, text and time-based media including performances.

My practice derives heavily from my biographical events. I delve in matters pertaining to my political, social and philosophical understanding of ‘self’ and ‘others’ in the given socio-political scenario. I dig deep in my studio practice over my philosophical yearnings and talk about my life in performances. My public and private spaces overlap at several levels, just as my domestic and political realities seem to reflect each other.

I venture out in the geographical expanse to connect with self and understand problems of others. I am as much a product of my society as much a change that I want to see in it. This dialectical process of give and take manifests itself in my community-based projects.

In my community art projects, I not only initiate dialogue around proposed change but also initiate the change at functional level. These projects highlight the power of art and artist as agents for change and brings me closer to my internal realizations as a social being. In short, my practice is based on the dualities of conscious and subconscious realizations, historical and contemporary knowledge, ideas and forms, macro and micro, perception and knowledge, and play of femininity and masculinity.

Visit Mee’s website here.