How you doing today?
I’m absolutely splendid…It’s a beautiful summer day in the A, got food in my belly, love in my heart and D’Angelo is playing in the background. Bout to get up and dance after this interview…


What motivates you to pick up the pen? And why?
The world I create in “art” compensates for what the real world refuses to give me. It’s a practice in recognizing that I am the only person that has seen what I have seen, in its respective sequence. Over the years, after everything that’s been given and taken away from me, I firmly believe that someone’s vision is the only thing they can rightfully claim as theirs. Everything else is unattached. When you die, your cellphone will still work, your house will still be standing, your friends will move on, but your vision will die right then and there with you. Creating is a very small, very immortalizing act.

What first got you into doing art?
Not really sure…when I was a child, my mother and preschool teachers marked me early on, because I wasn’t drawing stick figures like the rest of the kids. I started off drawing people with knuckles and eyebrows. All I remember is wanting to be as good as my big brother. I put a lot of pressure of myself and was discouraged very easily, still am sometimes. It’s only been recently since I’ve built enough artistic confidence to invest time into my vision.

Do your surroundings influence your art? How so?
Yes! Who isn’t influenced by their surroundings? Nothing energizes, inspires or frustrates me more than people. If you look closely, regardless of how different my pieces are, there’s always this underlying bedrock of human interconnection, how we coexist, and respond to one another.

What is your concentration of art?
Dichotomous symbolism.

Are there any new projects that you are interested in starting? Or is there something new that you are working on?
I want to work more in collage. I really like cutting and pasting paper. Next time I’m in the grocery store I’ll probably go pick up a tabloid and make an ocean scene of Octomom n em in a Escalade with something in Spanish spelled out in cut magazine letters. Shit–I dunno. I just made that up.

If you could do a collaboration with any of Atlanta’s artists who would it be? And why?
Gucci Mane, just for kicks. Na, on the real, I’d love to work with the Analog Girls, a few magazines, select flyers for events, Brittany Bosco phenomenal self for album cover work, a few select clothing lines for art direction + photography. There’s a crop of talented folks here, but I’m not trying to collab with people who essentially trying to do the same thing as me. I don’t know why people do that.

Is there a Mreeuh Chang art-book in the workings?
I work on impulse. I’m just waiting on the day I wake up and get the hankering to publish something. That’s how all my great projects have come into fruition, and I’m pretty sure that’s how that’ll happen.

Random: What trend (fashion, media, music, etc) in the 2000s do you think we can do without?
If you look at the prominent trends of each decade, industries responded to the social dynamics of its time. Think of Chanel’s ladies pant suit around the time women were allowed to vote. Army fatigues when the great WWs popped off….stuff like that. Now what do we have other than glittery Obama shirts? I think because today’s youth is out of touch with the world going on around them, the overall trends in fashion, media and music have a regurgitated identity. I think it’s deeper than fitteds.

Random: Can you do the “Stanky Leg”? Don’t lie!
Ha! Yes! It’s crazy because the stanky leg is actually years old! I used to work with this chick from Houston when I was 16 and we would have sleepovers over at her place sometimes…they used to stay up on all the dance songs, we did the stanky leg, dirty booty, all that. I don’t take requests in public though, so if you see me out…please don’t embarrass me!

Lastly, is there anything you would like to say/ shout out/ scream out to the people reading this interview?
Keep your circle small, your network large, and know the difference between both. Monitor the conversations you carry amoungst your own, and above everything else, stay loyal. Shout-out to Urban Fusion and the LoveHate family, I owe you a million favors. Campbell High, Walnut Hills High, Dj Belle of Cincinnati for the adventures, Moxy Monster for the come-up, Khaos Da Rapper for the laughs, Mo Reilley for the faith, Fadia Kader for the guidance, Chilly-O for the direction, City of Ink for the training, Castleberry Hill Area for the inspiration.

For more information on Mreeuh Chang check out her website at mreeuh.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.