Malcolm-Emilio: Connecting the World Through Art

Malcolm-Emilio doesn’t make art, he creates portals. 

If you’ve ever been to Leimert Park in Los Angeles, then you’ve likely seen his portals in murals, on flower pots, on sidewalks and inside local businesses like Neighbor’s Skate Shop.

In fact, Malcolm-Emilio has created a web of portals that spans over 30 countries, its center being in Toronto, Canada, where he was raised by his Chilean mother and Bajan father. 

I spoke with Malcolm-Emilio, 34, about his portals and how he’s redefining reality through the cultural history of his ancestors. 

Malcolm-Emilio said he describes his art as portals because each piece is meant to be an access point that guides people to new ideas or directions in their personal journey. 

Malcolm-Emilio’s portals are an extension of his existence, a blend of indigenous South American and Caribbean cultural history with a throughline to Africa that come together to create what he has coined as “energetic art.” 

Energetic art is “an art that comes from the indigenous thought and person that represents more than an aesthetic, craft, or hobby by carrying energetic substance, truth, history and factual evidence through form and imagery.” It is art born from intuition and introspective exploration that Malcolm-Emilio hopes will be at the center of modern architecture and art. 

Malcolm-Emilio embodies energetic art with a free-flowing color and form philosophy that defy Western notions of art theory by seamlessly integrating a wide range of patterns and textures. Like Jean Michel Basquiat, and others before him, Malcolm-Emilio plants words in his paintings that guide viewers to new ideas about the world and themselves. Most of these messages offer indigenous spiritual teachings that honor the power of plants in our healing and sustenance, others point viewers to turn inwards to discover the divine within. 

His journey with energetic art began in his early 20s when he decided to leave Canada after enduring one too many harsh winters. His first destination was Costa Rica, which he was led to perhaps by fate, but mainly because it was the cheapest flight out of the country. His goal was to learn from the local community by living with them side-by-side, in hopes of engaging in a cultural exchange that would expand his knowledge of self and therefore his art. Not only was he successful, he found a passion that has led him to nearly 30 countries where he has spread his messages through art. 

Malcolm-Emilio, who defines himself as an Original Man of Creation, draws his messages from his expansive theological studies on religions like Rastafarianism and Buddhism, which he unified through the realization that indigenous people everywhere live with one goal: to be in harmony with the earth. 

By spreading these messages and more, Malcolm-Emilio is creating a foundation for everyone to live in a new, sustainable world based on the rich cultural heritage of Black and brown indigenous people across Africa, the Caribbean, and Latina America. 

“I’m just creating positive contributions to the collective by using artwork as a global language and my presence, my time, and energy to go to different parts of the world and connect with like minded communities with similar visions for sustainable living, sovereignty, and being in harmony with the planet,” Malcolm-Emilio said. “I’m a threat to the colonizer…I rebuild bridges and access points for the upcoming generation to have solid foundations.” 

The Los Angeles-based artist has built that foundation through capsule collection collaborations with clothing brands like Carrots by Anwar Carrots, music, gallery exhibitions, video essays with Converse, skateboarding, and much more. 

This year he has a big announcement to make that will strengthen the bridges, foundations, and access points he’s built across the globe, but you’ll have to hear it from him. You can find Malcolm-Emilio on Instagram @stay_relevant.