Artist Statement: The Sovereign Pantheon

​Ajmal "Mas Man" Millar

​My practice is an act of speculative world-building—the construction of a "Legion" existing at the intersection of Caribbean Mas tradition, Queer sovereignty, and futuristic folklore. Drawing from my lineage as a "Mas Man," I utilize traditional wire-bending and carnival construction to engineer a new pantheon of sovereign figures.

​This work investigates the "Architecture of the Visage" and the "Ritual of the Harness." Each assemblage—from the "antennas" of the masks to the industrial backpacks—serves as protective armor for the body in a speculative Southern landscape. My goal is the creation of a uniquely Queer Caribbean folk-aesthetic: a visual language of resistance that archives the Black body as a site of eternal sovereignty.