This Is the Future: Maz Joachin and Building a New World

Maz Joachin’s work reflects a distinct artistic practice shaped by imagination, narrative, and experimentation. Through comic art and illustration, he pursues visual and storytelling interests across genres and formats. Works such as Supernova and Canyon 1–3 highlight his investment in image-making as an evolving practice.

A forward-looking approach is a defining feature of Joachin’s work. His practice considers decolonisation and anti-paradise as conceptual frameworks while moving away from idealised notions of paradise and simplified approaches to Caribbean storytelling. Though often informed by New Providence, his environments are reworked through invented details and internal logics. This is the Future explores Joachin’s process of world-building in his illustrative works and traces the development of his storytelling over time.

Maz Joachin is a Haitian-Bahamian illustrator and comic book artist who has been creating original stories and characters for over 15 years. Influenced by Hayao Miyazaki, Jamie Hewlett, and Glen Keane, he developed his craft through a series of ongoing comic projects. His comic Supernova was first published in Yea Bey magazine in 2013 and later released in print, followed by a shorter work titled Canyon—both available in the museum store. Joachin also founded Steaming Kettle Studios, producing comics, illustrations, and animation. He has contributed to films Roselyn and Caliente, both screened at The Bahamas International Film Festival, and is currently working on his first animated series, Nassau Rock. Joachin was recently nominated for an Elevation Award for Visual Artist of the Year.