mission statement
Wildcat! is the collective project of inter-disciplinary artists, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, Eleni Zaharopoulos, and André M. Zachery, that examines precarity as a constant condition for the majority of people in society. Framed as a civic-minded organization, Wildcat! was formed in 2013 out of a mutual interest in exploring how people organize and support each other in an unstable and imbalanced world. As artists, the group is interested in exploring the creative and unique ways people collectively work to survive and operate in their financial uncertainty while being conscious of how race, gender, class, economic conditions, and geographic location factor into this dynamic. Wildcat! is dedicated to the practice of any means of social interaction performed, created, or distributed that educates, empowers, and mobilizes people to recognize and respond collectively against all forms of inequality and injustice.
Solidarity in Precarity.
Solidarity in Precarity.
Founders
Photo by King Texas.
Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste
www.jeremytoussaintbaptiste.com
I was born in 1984, in a rapidly vanishing place. I am the first son of an addict and a laborer, both descendants of slaves. I have always languished in a sense of invisibility. I have never had the opportunity to leave North America. I am always eager to exercise my intelligence in tandem with my body. I am shy. I rarely grant second chances. I am often anxious about a great number of things at once. I feel as though I have no history. I do not believe having children is responsible to the world community. I am actively working to dismantle all culture. I chase challenges. I feel like my skeptical, politically malcontent teenage self more than ever. I do not believe that the "end is neigh," rather that the end is long behind us. I am dedicated to maintaining a positive mental attitude.
I am a Wildcat!
www.jeremytoussaintbaptiste.com
I was born in 1984, in a rapidly vanishing place. I am the first son of an addict and a laborer, both descendants of slaves. I have always languished in a sense of invisibility. I have never had the opportunity to leave North America. I am always eager to exercise my intelligence in tandem with my body. I am shy. I rarely grant second chances. I am often anxious about a great number of things at once. I feel as though I have no history. I do not believe having children is responsible to the world community. I am actively working to dismantle all culture. I chase challenges. I feel like my skeptical, politically malcontent teenage self more than ever. I do not believe that the "end is neigh," rather that the end is long behind us. I am dedicated to maintaining a positive mental attitude.
I am a Wildcat!
Photo by Adrian C. Mejia.
Eleni Zaharopoulos
www.happyabandon.com
I was born in Queens, New York to a strict Greek father and somber Greek mother. I spent my childhood swimming in the Aegean, playing dress up, and developing an insanely dirty vocabulary. I have lived in the East, West, North and South of this Country. I have a restless spirit, and always worry that I don't try hard enough in life. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I was engaged to a beautiful Mexican-American poet who died in an unsolved hit and run at the age of 29. I mourn his absence everyday. Transforming my resentment into useful fuel is a constant mental activity. I often complain that I was meant for warmer climates. I prefer to go dancing to just about anything. I am often too trusting. If you let me, I will make you food.
I am a Wildcat!
www.happyabandon.com
I was born in Queens, New York to a strict Greek father and somber Greek mother. I spent my childhood swimming in the Aegean, playing dress up, and developing an insanely dirty vocabulary. I have lived in the East, West, North and South of this Country. I have a restless spirit, and always worry that I don't try hard enough in life. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I was engaged to a beautiful Mexican-American poet who died in an unsolved hit and run at the age of 29. I mourn his absence everyday. Transforming my resentment into useful fuel is a constant mental activity. I often complain that I was meant for warmer climates. I prefer to go dancing to just about anything. I am often too trusting. If you let me, I will make you food.
I am a Wildcat!
Photo by Sylvain Guenot.
André M. Zachery
www.renegadepg.com
I am an alpha-male, 5'7" in height, and 145lbs. I am the son of a woman from Chicago and a man from Georgia. I have one sister and two brothers. Haitian and Cherokee ancestry is the only lineage in me of which I am certain. I have always expressed myself artistically. I have amazing reflexes (my maternal grandmother told me I got this from my maternal grandfather). I learn languages very quickly. I am inquisitive to a fault. I remain in close contact with friends from kindergarten. I can be very serious. I can be very funny. I am slightly afraid of clowns. I can cook my ass-off. I like being with my family. I am a Sagittarius. I respect my elders. I have become much nicer. I am sophisticated. I am from Chicago. I am a Brooklynite. I am a traveler. I have very dry sense of humor. I love soccer.
I am a Wildcat!
www.renegadepg.com
I am an alpha-male, 5'7" in height, and 145lbs. I am the son of a woman from Chicago and a man from Georgia. I have one sister and two brothers. Haitian and Cherokee ancestry is the only lineage in me of which I am certain. I have always expressed myself artistically. I have amazing reflexes (my maternal grandmother told me I got this from my maternal grandfather). I learn languages very quickly. I am inquisitive to a fault. I remain in close contact with friends from kindergarten. I can be very serious. I can be very funny. I am slightly afraid of clowns. I can cook my ass-off. I like being with my family. I am a Sagittarius. I respect my elders. I have become much nicer. I am sophisticated. I am from Chicago. I am a Brooklynite. I am a traveler. I have very dry sense of humor. I love soccer.
I am a Wildcat!
Eva Peskin
My name is Eva Peskin. I was born in New Jersey, I lived in The Philippines in first and second grades, I learned to drive and hide in the suburbs of Atlanta, I stopped hiding during a 6-month adventure in Senegal, and now I live and love in Brooklyn. I talk a lot and think really hard AND I am a good listener, which I credit largely to the ear training I've received in my extensive music education. Singing makes me feel really real. I often imagine myself doing gravity-defying flips and gymnastic tricks while I walk. I just want to help you feel like your best, most possible self, and I want that for me, too.
I am a Wildcat!
My name is Eva Peskin. I was born in New Jersey, I lived in The Philippines in first and second grades, I learned to drive and hide in the suburbs of Atlanta, I stopped hiding during a 6-month adventure in Senegal, and now I live and love in Brooklyn. I talk a lot and think really hard AND I am a good listener, which I credit largely to the ear training I've received in my extensive music education. Singing makes me feel really real. I often imagine myself doing gravity-defying flips and gymnastic tricks while I walk. I just want to help you feel like your best, most possible self, and I want that for me, too.
I am a Wildcat!
Photo by David Higgins.
Vanessa Gilbert
I was born between Peace and Plenty streets in Providence, RI to a visual artist and a musician who were art hippies, rather than political hippies. I applied for my first library card at age 4 and have been a card-carrier ever since. I turned 14 in London, but was too homesick to enjoy any celebration. I believe in the power of hospitality as an engine for social change, but often feel less than hospitable. I am amazed by the possibilities of international collaboration made possible by the world wide web and am hopeful that more communication between cultures will help preserve them. My toes are very square. I wish I meditated more.
I am a Wildcat!
I was born between Peace and Plenty streets in Providence, RI to a visual artist and a musician who were art hippies, rather than political hippies. I applied for my first library card at age 4 and have been a card-carrier ever since. I turned 14 in London, but was too homesick to enjoy any celebration. I believe in the power of hospitality as an engine for social change, but often feel less than hospitable. I am amazed by the possibilities of international collaboration made possible by the world wide web and am hopeful that more communication between cultures will help preserve them. My toes are very square. I wish I meditated more.
I am a Wildcat!
Photo by Marie Godeau.
Jeremy Goren
My parents named me after my great-grandfather Julius, who died just before I was born. But, they didn't want me to get beaten up, so they named me Jeremy. No one ever beat me up -- though an older girl who was babysitting me when I was little shoved a few hands-full of grass into my mouth once. I didn't talk outside of the house, as a kid. Inside the house I talked and yelled and sang non-stop. These days I sing more and more outside of the house, with friends -- and it makes things good. I like sports and poetry and medieval art. Growing up in '90s D.C. I listened to gangsta rap. In college, I lived for nine months in Cuba. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm still there, and everything since has been some kind of blip in the brain,
a soon-to-burst soap-bubble of an existence, a death-rattle, un mundo halucinante.
I love that we are made of star-stuff. I believe what they taught me in Quaker school:
There is that of God in everyone. I am a zealot for positive contrarianism, failure,
and precarity.
I am a Wildcat!
My parents named me after my great-grandfather Julius, who died just before I was born. But, they didn't want me to get beaten up, so they named me Jeremy. No one ever beat me up -- though an older girl who was babysitting me when I was little shoved a few hands-full of grass into my mouth once. I didn't talk outside of the house, as a kid. Inside the house I talked and yelled and sang non-stop. These days I sing more and more outside of the house, with friends -- and it makes things good. I like sports and poetry and medieval art. Growing up in '90s D.C. I listened to gangsta rap. In college, I lived for nine months in Cuba. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm still there, and everything since has been some kind of blip in the brain,
a soon-to-burst soap-bubble of an existence, a death-rattle, un mundo halucinante.
I love that we are made of star-stuff. I believe what they taught me in Quaker school:
There is that of God in everyone. I am a zealot for positive contrarianism, failure,
and precarity.
I am a Wildcat!
