Meet Marisa Mu | Artist, Creative Director and Co-founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marisa Mu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marisa, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
The end goal for me is to have contributed to bridging the gap between the under-representation of female and gender non confirming artists from multi-disciplinary practices. I am co-founder of an online platform Tits and Co. that has the purpose of recognising and supporting these artists and my life goal would be to have an off-the-grid property somewhere in coastal Australia where we facilitate artist residency programmes that enable local and international artists to work on their creative practices in our studios and also learn to live off the land and immerse themselves in not only cultural exchanges, collaborative projects but also enrich their lived experiences.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think often about how the past decade has unfolded for me personally and professionally and the biggest catalyst for me to pursue my dreams was when I lost my mum. I am very much who I am because of her light, integrity and love and I believe I channel that energy in all my paintings of little liberated naked womxn dancing freely.

I navigated working full-time retail management gigs for 14 years and I had my own design studio producing artisanal leather goods as my side hustle/project for 6 years. I had a massive campaign for my design studio and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and paint a small series of artworks to accompany the campaign. I hadn’t painted anything for years since mum left and I felt a real desire to paint but I was riddled with fear and anxiousness as I didn’t believe what I painted would be good enough in my mum’s eyes. I told myself this narrative for years and when my desire to paint was so immense, I recall it happening 2 weeks out from the campaign launch and remember vividly waking up one morning and hearing my mum’s voice so profoundly say ‘Marisa, today is the day you try’ and I knew in that moment that I had to paint.

I set out her old paints and was shaking as I genuinely had no clue what I would paint but then when the brush touched the canvas, I found myself intuitively painting naked women dancing and I was laughing and crying at the same time. I was so overwhelmed with relief and happiness that I was finally painting after so long and it wasn’t about the results but purely from the act of doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long, and that was to paint.

The wild thing was that I produced a small series of paintings for my design studio campaign launch and all the artworks sold that night. I had such a moment of surprise as I didn’t expect such a reception to my little naked dancers but as time has passed, it’s so clear why these characters resonate so deeply with me. I am a queer woman of colour who stands for equality and community and body liberation.

I consolidated my design studio 6 months later and quit my retail gig and committed to my art full-time as it was gaining a lot of organic traction that I couldn’t ignore and knew that it aligned with every part of who I am.

One of my earliest memories was being in preschool and spending the longest time doing a painting of me and my family standing out the front of our house and I believe this was the first real time I felt proud of myself. I recall looking at the painting with such pride and saying aloud ‘I am going to be an artist one day’. I think a lot about that little girl and how I am now a woman living her dreams as an artist, more so, an artist that wants to help support other femme artists live out their creative pursuits and dreams too.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Firstly, I live with my best friends so this is a pretty funny prompt.

I love to cook and am known for making these dope vegan dumplings from scratch, so we would definitely host a dinner party on our deck with a bunch of other friends where we all make dumplings together on a long table and I would cook them two ways – fried potstickers and also in a delicious soup.

I also live on Smith St, Collingwood which I believe got voted ‘The Coolest Street in The World’ last year on TimeOut Magazine which is both hilarious and amusing. Aside from smoking joints from my window and people watching, we would definitely be enjoying the plethora of artisan coffee spots, independent galleries, gay clubs and amazing restaurants in Collingwood and Fitzroy. Attending gallery openings are a must for me and I love to show my support for community projects, I am incredibly grateful to be based in the heart of the creative hub of Melbourne where there is so much energy, passion and talent in a central area.

I would say that this is the perfect middle point between Kreuzberg Berlin and Williamsburg Brooklyn. The perfect space for alternative thinkers and creatives that value quality design, food and art.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate my Shout Out to my mum who passed away when I was 19. She was an incredible artist and it has been a wild journey for me to now live my truth and navigate my own artist identity.

Website: www.marisamu.com

Instagram: instagram.com/marisa.mu

Image Credits
I own all the photos i have submitted