Do Good Art Club Profile: Mithsuca Berry
Welcome to Do Good Art Club, our non-profit capsule collection platforming emerging artists we care about, and raising money for the causes they care about. Each artists work is featured across a limited edition collection of hero unisex styles, and 100% of the profits will be split equally between three charities; one of each artists’ choosing.
So make way for Mithsuca Berry, a multi-disciplinary visual artist and storyteller based in Boston, USA. Mithsuca has chosen to support FEMs with this project; a non-profit organisation that works to empower feminine-identifying voices through poetry; holding workshops, open mics, book releases and an annual poetry slam tournament.
@mythsooka
Hiya Mithsuca! How are you doing?
Helloooooo! I am doing great today. Very caffeinated and inspired. Always excited for a good convo as well.
How would you describe your artistic practice? What mediums and topics do you explore?
My artistic practice is a very spiritual one. Everything I create is an outlet for things that I need to release from my body. My pieces choose the mediums they’d be most illuminated by. At its core my practice is healing and archival work through storytelling. My work aims to create universes within our current one that holds space for the Black queer experience. My work creates space for endless conversations on mental health, love, ancestry etc.
Who are your biggest creative heroes, and what inspiration do you take from them?
My biggest creative heroes are those who are using their experience on this earth to break generational curses. I’ve always been a person who is involved in activism and community building. All throughout my adolescence I was deeply involved with so many grassroots orgs and movements crafted by those in my community. I’ve seen how all the beautiful people I met through that, have sacrificed their time, energy, and peace for causes that are neglected. That to me is inspiring
We’re so excited about your capsule collection. What inspired the artwork featured on these pieces?
The world has been so void of hope recently. Between the internet overstimulation and the Earth trying to rebuild itself - I think everyone has been forced to watch their lives play out from the outside. From a screen. In a bedroom. I made my piece to inspire an energy of reclamation. I want folks to reconnect with just how much power they hold on their personal reality, outside of what we think can’t be controlled. “You Are the Universe” aims to reinstall hope in the wearer. You are just as vast, expansive, and worth exploring as the universe itself. I believe in the power of affirmations and wearing that on your body can help your overall energy.
Where are you looking forward to wearing them?
As it's getting colder out I am super excited about getting bundled and being able to spend what time I can outdoors. I’m always looking for a patch of grass to sit in!
Tell us a bit more about the charity you chose, and why they’re so close to your heart?
FEMs has time and time again connected me to the community. It’s always been in a safe and vulnerable way. I am someone who experiences anxiety and imposter syndrome in places where my mind and body can’t be present at the same time. FEMS hosts things that aim to bridge that connection, and bring you closer to folks also sharing that experience. FEMs was one of the places I released my on stage anxiety, as I pushed myself to share poems and art with people I knew were happy to listen. As a queer non-binary person, I am so glad I was able to experience their work before entering my 20s. They showed me what bravery felt like, but in a way where it is not separate from my feminine energy. My feminine energy is a source of energy for all of the creative things I want to do. FEMS provides a deep breath for those who enter their spaces.
"Between the internet overstimulation and the earth trying to rebuild itself - I think everyone has been forced to watch their lives play out from the outside."
If you were in charge of running the world for a day, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Sheeesh the list of things I can think of. Whether this would logically make sense or not - I’d probably get on every source of media and send a global message on all the things I’ve been deep researching on and create a call to action. I feel like we as humans escape accountability for how the Earth is going because we are all on completely different pages in values and belief. It sounds very end of days, haha. Doomsday energy aside I’d probably turn the globe into a visual playground with all the coloUrs and images I’d pump in there. Why are sidewalks grEy? That’s so boring.
What is the creative process like for you? Do you find it calming, chaotic or cathartic?
All 3! The things that come up for me emotionally are more of the catalyst for the work than the act of painting or drawing itself. I can paint and feel inspired to dance, sob, laugh, I could even stare at the canvas for a good 20 mins and have no clue what I’m feeling - but know I’m feeling something. I see art sometimes as calling energy that’s overlooked in your body to the surface.
What do you hope your artwork will do for others?
I like to describe my work as a bridge between the viewer and their intuition. There’s this conversation I think many are hitting on where they wonder who they were before seeds were planted in their mind. Every voice of anxiety, doubt and fear you may have, probably came from an environment where you heard it in person. Some of the negative self talk we inflict ourselves with was never a choice and my work aims to help the viewer identify where they came from. After identifying them and the needs you may have neglected to keep that voice alive - how can we build from scratch a new, more authentic version of ourselves? Where shame doesn’t have to be the foundation of how we present in the world/relationships. Art has a great way of capturing attention, what if that moment could lead someone to discover something unexpected about themselves. Something that brings them closer to the person they were as a child, or a memory of who they were in another life. Dreams feel so much closer to a possibility when you feel aligned with that outcome. Many people don’t follow their aspirations because they don’t see who they are in this moment, as someone deserving of that reality. I want to help remedy that feeling of loss and help folks mourn that wounded part - and maybe be inspired to turn it into something
How can people support both your work and your chosen charity?
Definitely donate and aim to provide FEMs with resources! Keep them able to employ local creators and host events. The more you support the more their mission is accessible to those who need it. I am always looking to see what next medium my work will take. That’s required a lot of out of pocket investment in addition to my day to day physical needs and responsibilities. So any support via gigs, donations, etc. is appreciated. Also my work in itself continues to serve its purpose as long as people can connect with it, so share, boost, gift a friend etc. Use my work as a resource as well, as a source of relief or a driving force for dialogue! You as a viewer are part of the piece itself.
What are you looking forward to from the coming year?
I have a few projects that are really taking my work to a new level of mastery and I’m eternally grateful to have my practice integrated in my life more and more as time goes on. Keep a lookout on socials for all that good stuff. I am also really looking forward to how much art will come from this pandemic timeline - outside of covid itself it’s been a deep point of reflection for so many people and I’m ready to see how artists take that and acknowledge all that we’ve been through. I am also looking forward to creating sites of joy that support my work as well. My work is fun but also has deep introspection intertwined. I want to study more about the act of pursuing joy after you’ve grieved. And I think a lot of folks are coming out of grieving, so how do we begin to play again? I’m excited.
