Meet Kill Joy, the masked Fil-Am artist-activist of Houston

Kill Joy at work: She uses folklore, mythology and history, to reflect on issues such as climate change, border immigration, and gentrification “at the intersection where jungle meets desert.” INSTAGRAM

The eye-catching murals of a secretive Filipino American artist-activist can currently be seen in Houston, Texas’ Trebly Park and at METRO’s Kashmere Bus Operating Facility as part of the city’s Arts in Transit program.

Kill Joy’s work includes mask-making, book-making and puppetry, which she contributes to social and environmental campaigns around the world, “but specifically to the Philippines because I have Filipino heritage.”

Kill Joy told the Houston Chronicle’s Brittanie Shey that she uses folklore, mythology and history, to reflect on issues such as climate change, border immigration, and gentrification “at the intersection where jungle meets desert.”

Amidst today’s “s—ty” issues, “Art is survival. It’s mental, emotional, and spiritual survival,” says Kill Joy ZYGOTE PRESS

Amidst today’s “s—ty” issues, “Art is survival. It’s mental, emotional, and spiritual survival,” she told Shey.

Her parents moved in their 30s from the Philippines (the “jungle”) and met in West Texas (the “desert,”) where she was born and raised.

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The artist Kill Joy. WEBSITE

Kill Joy once held a corporate job in Portland, Oregon before moving to Mexico City, where she imbibed the city’s vibrant street art culture.

Her works can be seen in protests in Manila where she says art meets activism. “It has a global reach because I’m talking about global issues that have to do with either social or environmental impact.”

Her next project will involve puppets in a multi-window installation at the Ion Building in Houston. To be launched this month, it explores Filipino folklore, mythology and creation stories in cultures across the world, the Chronicle reports.