On Activism, Art & Identity: An Interview with Javie Huxley

Javie Huxley, photo taken by Mario Ihieme-Washington (@maz_o)

To launch our first  Arts & Culture feature, we interviewed Javie Huxley, an artist and illustrator based in London. She talked to us about her activism, her art, and the complexities of being a Latin Woman in the cultural industries.

Javie was born in Chile but migrated to the UK with her mother when she was only three. After living in Hull and subsequently, in Felixstowe –both areas with a predominately white British demographic– Javie moved to London. There, she found a job as an Illustrator for Gal-Dem Magazine, and did a Masters in Children’s Literature and Illustration.

While living in London, Javie also discovered the Latin Village in Tottenham, a market and community that has been described as a “microcosm of South America”. After finding this place, Javie explains, she felt at ease: “I found my upbringing quite difficult as there wasn’t much diversity at all, let alone Latinx people. In some of my classes, I was the brownest person there, which is obviously a problem because I’m fairly light. This made me struggle with my confidence, self-esteem and mental health. I felt like I was ‘strange’, as I didn’t look like anyone else and didn’t share any cultural similarities with the people around me. It wasn’t until I moved to Tottenham that I found other Latinx people that looked like me, and finally felt as if I could explore my culture at my own pace.”

Illustration by Javie Huxley, commissioned for Maiya Michelle’ piece “Maiya Describes Herself as a Brown Child”.

Javie’s illustrations showcase and embrace the complexities of identity through the lens of self-acceptance and body positivity. When asked about how her Latin background has shaped her art and helped navigate her own British-Latinx identity, Javie explained: “It was a difficult dichotomy to look ‘foreign’ since people never treated me as British, even though I am. In that sense, my art has allowed me to get in touch with my Latin heritage; it was until I started drawing, and specifically, until I started drawing brown and black women that I felt more confident in myself, and more connected and curious towards my heritage. I know that as Latinx people we got nothing to prove; we have always been capable of accomplishing things, but visibility is really important because it helps people feel less alone.”

“Roots” by Javie Huxley

“Sun Skin” by Javie Huxley

Representation is at the core of what Javie does, which means that a lot of her attitudes towards the creative industries are rooted in ideas of activism: “Sometimes industries’ actions can feel quite tokenistic. I don't necessarily think that the way to fix issues of representation is just by finding some Latinx or Afro-Latinx people to do one or two things. I think it is a process that has to be carried out from the top, for example, through the diversification of board of directors. That said, I also think there's a lot of strength in taking the power into our own hands and sitting outside these institutions to create our own spaces, such as our own independent magazines, blogs and communities.”

Javie explains that the professional freedom she has to express her political stances was possible due to the sector she works at: “A lot of my work is a response to something I’ve seen, researched, or read about. Through editorial illustration, I get to choose what commissions to take on, and normally I end up selecting current affairs relating to social injustice, which also allows me to learn more.”

Moreover, she acknowledges that a lot of her inspiration is sourced from personal experiences, and specific people: “The people around me inspire me, especially my friends that are people of colour. We often have a lot of deep meaningful conversations which influence my art. For example, I recently made a series of illustrations and text about body image and racism as I was growing up, and that all came from a conversation I had with a friend of mine.”

Through her illustrations, Javie eventually got involved in the Save Latin Village campaign, an activist movement that has been going on for sixteen years and that aims to raise public awareness about the injustices faced by the people working in the Latin Village, and to stop the gentrification of the area. Javie explains that joining this campaign was a “pivotal moment” for her, as it allowed her to use her art to give back to the Latin community.

The campaign, founded by Vicky Alvarez in 2004, has been fighting for several causes throughout the years. Among them is the unfair raise of rent, the redevelopment plans for the area, and more recently, the closure of the market due to COVID-19. Regarding this, Javie acknowledges that despite the overall success of the campaign, right now it’s going through a period of difficulties: “The Latin Village has been closed since March due to the pandemic, so traders are losing their livelihood, and their mental health is suffering. Our current demands include: the reopening of the village, getting financial compensation for the traders for the time they had to shut down, demanding Transport for London to reconcile the damage they have done so far, and to stop the demolition of the Village.” 

Javie’s work as a Trustee of the Save Latin Village campaign is a clear example of how politics and artistic expression can go hand in hand. Even though there is still a lot that needs to be done, Javie recognises that the fact that this campaign and community exist is “a testament to the strength of the Latin community in the UK.”

Illustration of Gahela Cari (@gahela_cari8) by Javie Huxley

If you want to learn more about the campaign and their current demands, you can head to their website, where they have also included a timeline of events which breaks down the effects that COVID-19 has had on the workers. In terms of what our readers can do to help the situation, Javie explained that social media is the easiest way: “tag the City Council and the TfL, and explain why the Latin Village is such an important cultural place for Latinx people in the UK.” Moreover, you can sign their petitions, donate, and send a letter to your MP.

You can also check more of Javie’s work on her website, Instagram and Twitter.