Joshua Masters (@masters.practice), one of our Art MFA Candidates, has completed a mural in downtown Tallahassee just a block away from the Florida State Capital Building! You can find this mural facing Cascades Park on the Fuzzy Pineapple (@thefuzzypineapple).
Masters’ work approaches identity and connection through social research, family systems, and queer theory. Contemporary familial archives in their work are used to reference conflict avoidance and omission as symptoms of dishonest harmony. They are investigating the repercussions of dysfunctional communication and suppression of identity within the familial home, sharing that, “all too often, happy moments and time together are complicated by unspoken undercurrents of conflict. This means we can get along at thanksgiving, but it eventually leads to emotional and physical distance as intimacy, depth, and closeness are lost in these relationships.”
In search for closeness, Masters finds love and support in chosen family. Their work celebrates platonic intimacy and features peaceful, sun-dappled forests that resonate with the interconnectedness, support, and wonder they associate with their loved ones. For Masters, these scenes communicate a sense of safety and refuge afforded by their chosen family, four of which are depicted dancing together in their Cascades Park mural.
