Kill Joy is a Filipino-American street artist from West Texas who currently lives in Houston.
During her residency, Kill Joy is working with Kitchen Table Puppets & Press to activate the collective strength of border and immigrant communities in Texas amid escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric, unconstitutional policies, and state violence.
Kill Joy’s arts-based project comprises:
- Giant puppet rally for immigrants’ rights in Austin
- Giant puppet performance reuniting families in El Paso
- Giant puppet tour across Texas (forthcoming)
Kill Joy also worked with Rebo to paint a mural in the ACLU of Texas’ Houston office and live-screenprint the design at our Annual Meeting in San Antonio.
Giant puppet rally for immigrants’ rights in Austin
Texas is one of the most diverse states in the county. Immigrants not only belong in Texas but make Texas the state that it is. Yet, anti-immigrant laws like Senate Bill 4 put communities of color across the state at risk of being harassed and detained by police, while fueling mass incarceration and wasting millions of taxpayer dollars.
Kill Joy and Kitchen Table Puppets & Press worked with more than 100 volunteers to bring giant 15-foot puppets and protest art to the State Capitol in Austin. The puppet performance, which dramatized the beauty of collective resistance, kicked off an immigrants’ rights rally on Saturday, March 9, 2024, which was organized by the Border Network for Human Rights and more than 40 other organizations including the ACLU of Texas. Danzantes drummed and danced while the crowd shouted and cheered. The spectacle was featured in English and Spanish press.
Giant puppet performance reuniting families in El Paso
Hundreds of families across the U.S.-Mexico border reunited for a few minutes on a bridge over the Rio Grande during the Border Network for Human Rights’ “Hugs Not Walls” event on Saturday, November 2, 2024.
Kill Joy and Kitchen Table Puppets & Press worked with volunteers to puppeteer a story about a mother who was left with no choice but to cross the border to provide for her family back in Mexico. The performance culminated with a giant hug between the mother and her son as onlooking families held their loved ones tight. While heartwarming, the large-scale art also drew attention to the devastating number of deaths along the border, which has become a war zone with lethal buoys and razor wire.
Artist Statement
Kill Joy’s work is grounded in honoring the earth and seeking environmental and social justice through both radically imaginative worlds and supporting frontline social movements. Her work is an interpretation of world mythology and a study of nature’s cycles. She integrates storytelling and ancient symbolism with calls to spiritual and political awareness and action.
Website: https://joyland.space/
Social Media: Kill Joy and Kitchen Table Puppet & Press