E. Jane | |
---|---|
Born | |
Other names | MHYSA |
Alma mater | Marymount Manhattan College (BA) University of Pennsylvania School of Design (MFA) |
Occupation(s) | Interdisciplinary new media artist, musician |
Years active | 2015–present |
Awards | Wynn Newhouse Award (2016) |
E. Jane, also known by their performance name MHYSA, is an American interdisciplinary new media artist and musician.
Jane was born in Bethesda, Maryland in 1990.[1][2] Jane graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in art history.[3] In 2016, they graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in interdisciplinary art from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design.[4]
They have participated in various exhibitions and festivals internationally, including Wandering/WILDING: Blackness on the Internet at IMT Gallery in London in 2016,[5] Post-Cyber Feminist International in 2017,[6] and Glasgow International in 2018.[7][8]
Jane was a 2019–2020 Artist-in-Residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem,[9] and they are based in Brooklyn, New York.[10][11]
Jane performs under the musical alter ego name, "MHYSA."[12][13] MHYSA is also a part of the music duo SCRAAATCH, along with collaborator "lawd knows" (who also goes by "chukwumaa").[3][14] In 2017, MHYSA released their debut album, fantasii.[13] In February 2020, they released the album NEVAEH for Hyperdub.[15]
The New York Times has said MHYSA's work contains a "wobbly, dreamy club sound."[10] Others have noted the performance as referencing or being connected to 1990s R&B music.[4][16][3] MHYSA has described themselves as "an underground pop star for the cyber resistance."[4]
Lavendra is a multimedia installation. It was displayed in exhibitions at the PennDesign MFA Program in 2015 and 2016,[17] and as a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn gallery American Medium in 2017[17] and the Glasgow International in Scotland in 2018.[12][18] The installation includes references to 1990s R&B (rhythm and blues) divas, such as portrait collages of 1990s black female musicians and songs selected from the time.[16] Digital performances by MHYSA were shown on monitors, and the room was covered in purple light.[16]
Alive was started in 2015 in response to the death of Sandra Bland.[19] Bland was found hanged in a cell after a traffic arrest in 2015.[4] Jane created a photobooth background with the word "ALIVE" for black women to take pictures with and share on social media using the hashtag #notyetdead.[20] These selfies were uploaded to a website and also displayed in an installation.[21][4]
Jane uses they and them pronouns.[3][22]
In 2016, they received the Wynn Newhouse Award.[23]