Encountering Maz Joachin’s work is witnessing true artistry. His work is honest and free, filled with an imagination that is often lost in a world determined to steal our joy. Through his comic art and illustrations, Joachin embraces his artistic desires without fear of being constrained by capitalism’s compartmentalisation. Works such as Supernova and Canyon 1-3 showcase how artists can thrive when they work from the heart and approach their craft with curiosity, joy, and love for creating itself.

Joachin’s forward-thinking is the primary characteristic of his artwork. His love for creating not only inspires fellow writers, artists and makers but also builds worlds that exist beyond the present, filled with future promises of decolonisation and anti-paradise. Naturally, he is a builder, a dreamer, and the very essence of his practice is decolonial. Joachin rejects any ideas of paradise and the commercialisation of Caribbean storytelling. While his environments are often inspired by New Providence, they are filled with new idiosyncrasies that stem from his mind. This peculiarity of the comic book genre calls for world-building and for the artist to create immersive worlds where readers can get lost.

THIS IS THE FUTURE explores Joachin’s process of building new worlds and environments in his illustrative works and how he has mastered the art of storytelling over time.

BIO 

Maz Joachin is an illustrator and comic book artist of Haitian-Bahamian origin. He has been creating original stories and characters for over 15 years. His interest in sequence art was inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki, Jamie Hewlett, and Glen Keane. He devoted his early years to mastering his storytelling skills and created several ongoing series.

In 2013, Joachin’s comic book titled Supernova was published in Yea Bey magazine, a monthly comic magazine created by fellow comic book artist Staniel Russell. After being featured in Yea Bey for a year, he began printing volumes of his comic book Supernova. This project was followed by a shorter story called “Canyon”. Both books are available at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas’ Mixed Media Store.

Joachin also founded Steaming Kettle Studios, a studio dedicated to producing publications, illustrations, and animation. He worked as a writer and storyboard creator for Roselyn, an animated film directed by artist Jason Evans. Joachin also did character design for Evans’ film Caliente; both films were screened at The Bahamas International Film Festival.

Currently, Joachin is working on his first animated series titled Nassau Rock and has been nominated for an Elevation Award for Visual Artist of the Year.