Essential MissYucki information
THE CONCEPT
MissYucki is an organically evolving art /design project and brand conceived by Alba Poretti and Kathleen Cameron. The MissYucki project has taken its core inspiration from experiences based on the magic and mayhem of Johannesburg. Johannesburg is our home and starting point and from this focus we have explored African folklore and incorporated our experiences from our many travels.
We have created a character named MissyYucki, whose fantastical world is based on Johannesburg. MissYucki’s world in populated with many characters, like the muti monsters, her magic trolley and the pageant princesses. Using a range of mediums; including illustration, character design, accessory design, doll making and of course story telling we create scenes and themes from her mythology as well as accessories and novelties inspired by the characters story.
Since her humble beginnings in 2004. Miss Yucki has grown into a complex and multifaceted concept and lifestyle that embodies both the unfolding narrative of the character MissYucki as well as our personal artistic aesthetics and views. We have been involved in multiple exhibitions, shows and projects in South Africa, New York, North Carolina, Japan, Barcelona, Mozambique, Rotterdam and beyond.
We continue to use MissYucki as a vehicle for exploration of our own identities within the context of South Africa as well as investigate various themes evident in daily life in urban Africa. In this way we try to subtly explore questions of urbanism, race, heritage, identity, and new Africanism and add to that a splash of sparkle and playful whimsical charm. More broadly we take inspiration from anthropology ,giant cities, glitter, dreams and folklore.
We live far away from each other, Kat in Spain and Alba in America so MissYucki is also an excellent platform to keep our ideas together and allow us share our experiences and creations. It is a labor of love and the project as a whole as well as the characters and story we create and the products we produce grow and evolve as our experiences do.
As a result of this Yucki, intercontinental affair we have found that the most effective way to keep the MissYucki story and project alive is through our website www.missyucki.com. Missyucki.com is where all our ideas live, it is a creative zone fuelled by our adventures and dreams and in many ways it is a living wonder chamber that catalogues and archives our creations, our stories and our inspirations.
We do not, at this stage, create seasonal collections or have centralized production. Our work is created in limited editions, usually by order and the bulk of our work is carefully hand crafted. As a result of this MissYucki products are both rare and collectable. They are not mass produced items but rather unique and detailed art pieces.
We do allot of bespoke work and are always open to create special MissYucki items for people. We love to fulfill people’s wishes and work with them to bring to life curious MissYucki wonders and objects of desire. We have created a wild array of goodies including giant cakes, bespoke apparel, costumes, murals, monster piñatas, hand crafted toys in all shapes and sizes, cocktail hats, handbags, purses, tattoos ,underwear, and illustrations. Our output is as diverse and creative as our fascinating clients and in many ways this amenability combined with our focus on the conjured world of MissYucki is what differentiates our brand.
Just as the character of MissYucki trawls the streets of Johannesburg and enchanted muti powered dream zones for treasures and surprises, we, the artists, travel the world lapping up new experiences , studying, exploring and discovering fresh ways to tell our story and grow the character of MissYucki through our stories and the creations we make. MissYucki creations transcend fashion trends , we prefer to avoid disposable fashion. Rather, each piece is imbued with great care and thought and we hope that these little luxuries will continue to tell their story long after the are designed and sold.
THE CHARACTER
MissYucki the character is a little pavement princess from Johannesburg, South Africa. She lives with her muti monsters, magic trolley and all the other gutter beasties that lurk in the city She loves to dream travel and concoct potions because she is a little witch doctor in training. MissYucki's ultimate ambition is to be crowned queen of all the little miss beauty pageants. She wants to be the ultimate glam yucki princess and spread pageant power far and wide.
MissYucki loves to play dress up. She is a master of disguise and her super power is in fact her pageant power. She is always on the look out for dashing new styles, outfits and ways to transform herself. She is never far from her accessories, and loves to try on new outfits for her pageants. From pavement trash-treasure trawling outfits to glam sparkle puff jumpsuits for her african-muti cursing escapades, MissYucki sashays about town and reveals a myriad of dress up identities to suite her many playful moods!
BACKGROUND
Johannesburg
Miss Yucki mythology draws on the African urban landscape for inspiration and one should seek an understanding of Johannesburg in order to understand Miss Yucki.
Since the late 1980s Johannesburg has experienced a downward spiral of negative inner city trends such as high unemployment, poverty, deterioration of the built environment, rapid urbanisation, overcrowding and crime. However, Johannesburg is still the economic powerhouse of Africa and multitudes of people from all over the African continent arrive in Johannesburg to seek their fortunes. Trans-national migration has resulted in the most culturally and ethnically diverse Johannesburg ever.
However, the internationalisation of Johannesburg has given rise to a large measure of xenophobia. African foreign nationals are blamed for an overcrowded informal trading sector, the growth of the narcotics trade and general physical deterioration. This may or may not be true, but the fact remains the dynamics of inner city Johannesburg are as complex as they are varied and allow much room for an artist?s response and social commentary.
Neighbour is piled on top of relative in rows of dilapidated apartment blocks. The main roads are crammed with cars and there is always a taxi or a police van obstructing the flow of traffic. Street vendors jostle for position on the crumbling sidewalks to sell everything from individual cigarettes to vegetables. Car guards in faded garments whistle after potential customers. Groups of school children play on the pavements or crowd the arcade-game shops. Telephone lines crisscross balconies and reach down into the street. Informal telephone operators provide a service throughout the day and contribute to the complex social, economic and technological networks that cover continental Africa.
While this is characteristic of many cities throughout Africa (and the world), Johannesburg has recently experienced an intensified urban regeneration drive with varying degrees of success. This has resulted in islands of gentrified corporate developments amidst a sea of chaos. As the corporates fight to regain the inner city and the poor cling onto their livelihoods, downtown Joburg has become a space where high-powered businessmen can brush coats with the homeless and the destitute. This contributes to the creation of a multiple, dynamic, diverse, hybrid and fragmented spaces and identities. The streets of Johannesburg can be as cold and ruthless as exotic and vibrant. In this self-absorbed city, where the focus is always on winning the rat race (and score is measured in economic gain), people often become faceless and there is little room for sympathy.
Muti and Magic
Miss Yuckis' muti monster minions, her gang of little yuckis, are intrinsically inspired by two widespread facets of African mysticism and folklore. Notably the legend of the African Tokoloshe as well as the practice of using Muthi (pronounced muti) to divine, cure, curse and heal. The tokoloshe is a perplexing entity. There are many varying reports which try to define the exact nature and characteristics of the tokoloshe but the over riding essence of them all deal with it being a paranormal creature. Mischievous in nature but not necessarily malevolent.
Some reports claim that the Tokoloshe is a dwarf like zombie. Some say that it has sharp teeth and a long probing tongue. Some say that it is a shape shifter, or a creature that only children can see, who puts a magical pebble under its tongue to make it invisible to adults. Some say its is a creature designed to tempt and mislead one Some say it is a debaucherous malefactor. All in all the Tokoloshe is as enigmatic creature of legend and dreams. Often feared, often manipulated and infinitely curious and beguiling.
Muti is more a mode of fact than legend. The word is used broadly throughout South Africa and essentially means medicine. It is a type of traditional non western style of medicine. It employs both sympathetic magic as well as brews of remedies conjured from blends of herbs, animal remains, sometimes human remains and always with a hint of enchanted faith, either auspicious or gloomy.
THE CONCEPT
MissYucki is an organically evolving art /design project and brand conceived by Alba Poretti and Kathleen Cameron. The MissYucki project has taken its core inspiration from experiences based on the magic and mayhem of Johannesburg. Johannesburg is our home and starting point and from this focus we have explored African folklore and incorporated our experiences from our many travels.
We have created a character named MissyYucki, whose fantastical world is based on Johannesburg. MissYucki’s world in populated with many characters, like the muti monsters, her magic trolley and the pageant princesses. Using a range of mediums; including illustration, character design, accessory design, doll making and of course story telling we create scenes and themes from her mythology as well as accessories and novelties inspired by the characters story.
Since her humble beginnings in 2004. Miss Yucki has grown into a complex and multifaceted concept and lifestyle that embodies both the unfolding narrative of the character MissYucki as well as our personal artistic aesthetics and views. We have been involved in multiple exhibitions, shows and projects in South Africa, New York, North Carolina, Japan, Barcelona, Mozambique, Rotterdam and beyond.
We continue to use MissYucki as a vehicle for exploration of our own identities within the context of South Africa as well as investigate various themes evident in daily life in urban Africa. In this way we try to subtly explore questions of urbanism, race, heritage, identity, and new Africanism and add to that a splash of sparkle and playful whimsical charm. More broadly we take inspiration from anthropology ,giant cities, glitter, dreams and folklore.
We live far away from each other, Kat in Spain and Alba in America so MissYucki is also an excellent platform to keep our ideas together and allow us share our experiences and creations. It is a labor of love and the project as a whole as well as the characters and story we create and the products we produce grow and evolve as our experiences do.
As a result of this Yucki, intercontinental affair we have found that the most effective way to keep the MissYucki story and project alive is through our website www.missyucki.com. Missyucki.com is where all our ideas live, it is a creative zone fuelled by our adventures and dreams and in many ways it is a living wonder chamber that catalogues and archives our creations, our stories and our inspirations.
We do not, at this stage, create seasonal collections or have centralized production. Our work is created in limited editions, usually by order and the bulk of our work is carefully hand crafted. As a result of this MissYucki products are both rare and collectable. They are not mass produced items but rather unique and detailed art pieces.
We do allot of bespoke work and are always open to create special MissYucki items for people. We love to fulfill people’s wishes and work with them to bring to life curious MissYucki wonders and objects of desire. We have created a wild array of goodies including giant cakes, bespoke apparel, costumes, murals, monster piñatas, hand crafted toys in all shapes and sizes, cocktail hats, handbags, purses, tattoos ,underwear, and illustrations. Our output is as diverse and creative as our fascinating clients and in many ways this amenability combined with our focus on the conjured world of MissYucki is what differentiates our brand.
Just as the character of MissYucki trawls the streets of Johannesburg and enchanted muti powered dream zones for treasures and surprises, we, the artists, travel the world lapping up new experiences , studying, exploring and discovering fresh ways to tell our story and grow the character of MissYucki through our stories and the creations we make. MissYucki creations transcend fashion trends , we prefer to avoid disposable fashion. Rather, each piece is imbued with great care and thought and we hope that these little luxuries will continue to tell their story long after the are designed and sold.
THE CHARACTER
MissYucki the character is a little pavement princess from Johannesburg, South Africa. She lives with her muti monsters, magic trolley and all the other gutter beasties that lurk in the city She loves to dream travel and concoct potions because she is a little witch doctor in training. MissYucki's ultimate ambition is to be crowned queen of all the little miss beauty pageants. She wants to be the ultimate glam yucki princess and spread pageant power far and wide.
MissYucki loves to play dress up. She is a master of disguise and her super power is in fact her pageant power. She is always on the look out for dashing new styles, outfits and ways to transform herself. She is never far from her accessories, and loves to try on new outfits for her pageants. From pavement trash-treasure trawling outfits to glam sparkle puff jumpsuits for her african-muti cursing escapades, MissYucki sashays about town and reveals a myriad of dress up identities to suite her many playful moods!
BACKGROUND
Johannesburg
Miss Yucki mythology draws on the African urban landscape for inspiration and one should seek an understanding of Johannesburg in order to understand Miss Yucki.
Since the late 1980s Johannesburg has experienced a downward spiral of negative inner city trends such as high unemployment, poverty, deterioration of the built environment, rapid urbanisation, overcrowding and crime. However, Johannesburg is still the economic powerhouse of Africa and multitudes of people from all over the African continent arrive in Johannesburg to seek their fortunes. Trans-national migration has resulted in the most culturally and ethnically diverse Johannesburg ever.
However, the internationalisation of Johannesburg has given rise to a large measure of xenophobia. African foreign nationals are blamed for an overcrowded informal trading sector, the growth of the narcotics trade and general physical deterioration. This may or may not be true, but the fact remains the dynamics of inner city Johannesburg are as complex as they are varied and allow much room for an artist?s response and social commentary.
Neighbour is piled on top of relative in rows of dilapidated apartment blocks. The main roads are crammed with cars and there is always a taxi or a police van obstructing the flow of traffic. Street vendors jostle for position on the crumbling sidewalks to sell everything from individual cigarettes to vegetables. Car guards in faded garments whistle after potential customers. Groups of school children play on the pavements or crowd the arcade-game shops. Telephone lines crisscross balconies and reach down into the street. Informal telephone operators provide a service throughout the day and contribute to the complex social, economic and technological networks that cover continental Africa.
While this is characteristic of many cities throughout Africa (and the world), Johannesburg has recently experienced an intensified urban regeneration drive with varying degrees of success. This has resulted in islands of gentrified corporate developments amidst a sea of chaos. As the corporates fight to regain the inner city and the poor cling onto their livelihoods, downtown Joburg has become a space where high-powered businessmen can brush coats with the homeless and the destitute. This contributes to the creation of a multiple, dynamic, diverse, hybrid and fragmented spaces and identities. The streets of Johannesburg can be as cold and ruthless as exotic and vibrant. In this self-absorbed city, where the focus is always on winning the rat race (and score is measured in economic gain), people often become faceless and there is little room for sympathy.
Muti and Magic
Miss Yuckis' muti monster minions, her gang of little yuckis, are intrinsically inspired by two widespread facets of African mysticism and folklore. Notably the legend of the African Tokoloshe as well as the practice of using Muthi (pronounced muti) to divine, cure, curse and heal. The tokoloshe is a perplexing entity. There are many varying reports which try to define the exact nature and characteristics of the tokoloshe but the over riding essence of them all deal with it being a paranormal creature. Mischievous in nature but not necessarily malevolent.
Some reports claim that the Tokoloshe is a dwarf like zombie. Some say that it has sharp teeth and a long probing tongue. Some say that it is a shape shifter, or a creature that only children can see, who puts a magical pebble under its tongue to make it invisible to adults. Some say its is a creature designed to tempt and mislead one Some say it is a debaucherous malefactor. All in all the Tokoloshe is as enigmatic creature of legend and dreams. Often feared, often manipulated and infinitely curious and beguiling.
Muti is more a mode of fact than legend. The word is used broadly throughout South Africa and essentially means medicine. It is a type of traditional non western style of medicine. It employs both sympathetic magic as well as brews of remedies conjured from blends of herbs, animal remains, sometimes human remains and always with a hint of enchanted faith, either auspicious or gloomy.