Mees

At 16, Mees dropped out of school with a burnout. What they found in the silence: a pencil and a big mouth. "By 21, I'll be living off my art." They were 17. They meant it. Paintings, commissions, clothing, exhibitions, a documentary, by 2022, it was real. But unhealthy energy has an expiration date. A second burnout, therapy, sobriety, almost completely stopped creating. They're 22 now. The passion is back. And at the end of 2023, Mees missed the call for their museum exhibition, slept right through the alarm. Still grateful for it. Sometimes a missed call is exactly the wake-up call you needed.