Born and raised in Queens, NY, Mohammed Fayaz AKA mojuicy AKA mobaby has been drawing portraits of people since childhood, but has never attended art school. In 3^rd grade he remembers feeling competitive because the “other brown boy” in the class drew a picture of the teacher and everyone loved it. At the time, Mohammed was drawing mostly white women- (with no intention, simply because that was the typical subject of art).

In fact, Mohammed is gay. He began drawing men as a personal challenge in 8^th grade, though their bodies did not make up a significant amount of his artwork until the end of high school, which, ironically, was also the time when Mohammed began actively pursuing gay encounters.

Years later, he now identifies as queer and his work has evolved to exclusively focus on queer people of color (qpoc) having a great time! Each piece contains a stylized caption to make it feel like a genuine snapshot of queer life which you can literally respond to, “Right?!” Though these people seem like they could all easily be people you know, they are figments of Mohammed’s imagination. A statement to his mastery, he uses no direct reference material. These subjects simply represent his people- people he would identify with, party with, or even date. People he wants to see. And the captions? They are his own past tweets! Specially paired to take you there.

The most interesting thing about his art, is how it is both a testament to and agent of Mohammed’s own changing aesthetic and attractions. Now when Mohammed visits the Met, he totally bypasses the European Art section without even thinking. When Mohammed scrolls through tumblr now, it is filled by work featuring or created by people of color, and feels normal. He has redefined his own default standard like what kind of people or art he is attracted to in a process that feels like filling in histories he missed growing up.

Finally finding empowerment in his art, he wants to use it as such. Mohammed is not one to believe in art for art’s sake. That sentiment is a small part of why he never attended art school (a large part being that it was never ingrained as a viable option from his Indian immigrant family). Distinguishing himself from artists who work at a level abstracted from reality, Mohammed actively seeks to pair his art with the community to promote qpoc functions and culture in New York (for example, by linking with musicians, poets, non profits etc.)

For all of you creators out there who don’t have access to institutional schooling- Mohammed’s advice is to constantly challenge yourself and not give up.

Be your own professor. Who really is checking for us to be better? Give yourself assignments so you can grow. And don’t compare yourself to other artists or people in school. It just breaks you down and distracts yourself from your own practice. And what is that quote? It takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. All these answers might feel trite, but also I think we are taught that these tools of thought are trite because precisely to keep those who need it from our own success. Seriously, you can do it!

Illustrations drawn by Mohammad Fayaz – mojuicy.tumblr.com

Photo by Browntourage