The Artist

Love Era

LOVE ERA is a body of work that explores how I understand, navigate, and experience the different forms of romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love. The four primary themes of LOVE ERA are Live, Love, Lose, and Learn. These four themes are expressed throughout the four multidisciplinary projects that comprise LOVE ERA: Love Allways, One Day, I Hope That…, Verses: A Love Story, and Ego.

LOVE ERA was executed over the course of four months (September–December). To view more of the social campaign supporting LOVE ERA, please visit my Instagram page (LOVE ERA is also viewable on Facebook and Twitter).

[Image Description: “Love Era” written in dark brown in front of a tan square background. Four small dark brown and tan circles are below the text.]

[Image Description: Five upright mobile phones displaying white and brown “Love Era” graphics.]

[Image Description: Five upright mobile phones displaying blue and brown “Love Era” graphics.]

[Image Description: Five upright mobile phones displaying black and pink “Love Era” graphics.]

[Image Description: Five upright mobile phones displaying red-violet and ivory “Love Era” graphics.]

[Image Description: “Love Era” written in dark brown in front of a tan background displayed on a laptop. Four small dark brown and tan circles are below the text. Various graphics from Marq Mervin's Instagram page are displayed on a mobile phone.]

Love Allways (L)

Love Allways is my EP released in 2020.

Available on Spotify, Apple Music, and major streaming platforms.

[Image Description: A square-shaped image of two hands forming a heart in front of a blue background]

[Image Description: An album track list in Apple Music displayed on a laptop and an album track list in Spotify displayed on a mobile phone.]

One Day, I Hope That…(O)

One Day, I Hope That… is a collection of prose and poetry that explores the interwoven experiences of Black identity, queer identity, and masculinity in autobiographical form.

Serving as a journey of introspection and self-reflection, this compilation expounds on topics of sexuality, body image, family, and loss through three sections: Love, Lamentation, and Liberation.

“To queer boys and men”, Marq writes, “look upward to the sky and remember you are still here, beloved.” This lyrical journey is titled as both an affirmation of being present in one’s self and faith in what the future holds—one day, I hope that…

Available at BookShop and most major book retailers.

[Image Description: A square-shaped image of an orange boat in the distance sailing towards an evening sky on royal blue water.]

[Image Description: Two "One Day, I Hope That..." books stacked on top of one another sitting next to glasses, a plant, filled mug, and laptop on top of a wooden table.]

[Image Description: The words "One Day, I Hope That" and "Marq Mervin" displayed on a digital tablet.]

Verses: A Love Story (V)

Verses: A Love Story is my poetry album released in 2020.

Available on Spotify, Apple Music, and major streaming platforms.

[Image Description: A square-shaped image of a pink capital V with "a love story" and "parental advisory" written in pink underneath on a black, leather background.]

Ego (E)

Exhibition Statement

“Liberation comes through reconciliation”—I wrote these words without understanding the true weight of its meaning. Throughout my life, I’ve been pressured into becoming who I could be, should be, and would be instead of being allowed to exist as only recently have I found the courage to define and embrace the entirety of my personhood. Ego is my journey towards freedom, self-acceptance, and to the heart of viewing my Self with compassion instead of judgment.

Ego is a virtual reality exhibition comprised of digital paintings, poetry, interactive media, and virtual reality painting. The prominent themes of Ego are explorations of shadow work, body acceptance, self-actualization, death, and the afterlife. The Shadow, as described by Jungian Psychology, is the source of both our creative and destructive energies. This led me to a term called “shadow work”. Conducting shadow work prompted me to address body and emotional insecurities and delve into my rumination about the afterlife. I learned these insecurities were rooted in feelings of inadequacy and my contemplation with life beyond was grounded in my fear of dying before this exhibition was completed.

The paintings of Ego are intended to normalize nude men of size by humanizing our bodies and eroticism. Additionally, I pursued this work to develop a healthy relationship with my body that centers on acceptance, love, and embrace. Through the aforementioned shadow work, I asked myself, “Why do I love the features I have on other men, but not on myself? If I don’t find myself attractive, do I truly find those men attractive? Conversely, if I find those men attractive, why do I not find myself attractive?” The paintings are to help answer those questions as my relationship with my body evolves.

The poetry of Ego is my attempt to reconcile with my intersecting identities of Blackness, queerness, masculinity, and size that are often in conflict with one another. These poems reflect my current thoughts and feelings on love, sex, acceptance, hope, encouragement, and reconciliation. The interactive media, represented by scannable QR codes, guides viewers to my musical and written components that support the intent of Ego. I intend for the poetry to give voice to these identities so they may listen to, respect, and love one another, even in disagreement.

The virtual reality component of Ego ponders the mystery of death and transitioning into the afterlife. I interpret the human experience through metaphor. After we sail across the ocean of Time, I wonder if we wash ashore to the Great Lighthouse when we die. The tears shed for our passing form the new oceans that we sail on, allowing us to journey onward to the afterlife. Much like we were formed in water, wouldn’t it be magnificent if we return to the sea? What if the darkness of our closed eyes leads to the Great Lighthouse that illuminates our paths? I explore these themes as a memorial to my former selves who died and provided room for the birth of my current Self. I hope to honor my past lives and our time together through this work.

View Ego here.
Learn how to navigate Ego here.

[Image Description: A stylized burgundy capital E with "ego" written underneath on a white square background.]

[Image Description: A virtual gallery displayed on a laptop and a stylized burgundy capital E with "ego" written underneath on a mobile phone.]

[Image Description: A virtual gallery displayed on a digital tablet.]

A #1, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure with his arm caressing his neck, seen from behind.] — A #1, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure with his arm caressing his neck, seen from behind.]

A #2, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing against a wall, seen from a side view.] — A #2, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing against a wall, seen from a side view.]

A #3, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing, seen from an underside view.] — A #3, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing, seen from an underside view.]

[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting on the ground with his back arched, seen from a front view.]

C #1, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting with his legs crossed, seen from a front view.] — C #1, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting with his legs crossed, seen from a front view.]

E #1, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying down on his stomach with his arms wrapped around his back, seen from behind.] — E #1, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying down on his stomach with his arms wrapped around his back, seen from behind.]

E #2, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying on his back caressing his stomach, seen from a top-down view.] — E #2, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying on his back caressing his stomach, seen from a top-down view.]

S #1, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting with one arm behind his head and the other holding his scrotum, seen from a front view.] — S #1, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting with one arm behind his head and the other holding his scrotum, seen from a front view.]

S #2, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing with one hand caressing his stomach and the other hand covering his penis, seen from a front view.] — S #2, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing with one hand caressing his stomach and the other hand covering his penis, seen from a front view.]

S #3, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting facing right, seen from a side view.] — S #3, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure sitting facing right, seen from a side view.]

S #4, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying on his back with arms resting behind his head, seen from a side view.] — S #4, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure laying on his back with arms resting behind his head, seen from a side view.]

S #5, 2020
Digital Painting
[Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing with one arm behind his head, seen from behind.] — S #5, 2020 Digital Painting [Image Description: Black and white painting of a nude male figure standing with one arm behind his head, seen from behind.]

Revelation/Revolution, 2019

[Image Description: “Rev/l\tion” written in black in front of a white background.]