Blended practices become the main expressive means of artists today. Marissa Malik uses printmaking, writing, illustration, video and is mostly known through her work as DJ and even more for her preoccupation with astrology through her column in gal-dem, a media platform for journalism by females of colour. She comes from a Pakistani and Mexican heritage, and situates this cultural wealth at the core of her constitution and artistic practice. Being interested in the way diasporic communities maintain their relationships to motherlands, she seeks to rewrite colonial narratives, amplify voices of marginalised identities and examine how identity formation occurs between the first generation of people of colour and the effects of their loss of ancestral languages. She identifies as a Bruja, a witch of lesser magic, a path that many Latinx artists, especially female and queer artists, embrace. It is the proud reclaiming of a cultural taboo, turning it into a means of empowerment that defies patriarchal stereotypes. Bruja and Bruja Feminism, Astrology and Tarot reading – popular tools of self-identification and expression amongst fellow artists of her generation and Malik’s favourite tools – have all been demonised by Christianity. Now, they return stronger and more appealing to the digital natives. By means of social media this healing intersectional feminism is becoming global. Its strength lies in feminine power and its omnipotent drive to lead us into a different future by reconnecting to the roots and re channelling their innate wisdom.

DESENTERRADA (DISCARDED), 2021
Sonic Lecture & Sound Performance, approx. 40’
Courtesy of the artists