CONNEK feature with international CONNEK ambassador: Terrell in Miami

When we launched CONNEK in 2018 the out pour of messages and notes about this project from queer folk outside Jamaica who were touched by this project was beautiful. A lot of amazing people living everywhere from NYC to Canada were excited to see a way through CONNEK to re connect and/ or come to Jamaica for the first time. With that said the CONNEK team reached out to a couple international ambassadors to interview them about their experience with queerness as it relates to their Caribbean heritage. We asked them why CONNEK was important to them and what they saw in the future for queer liberation through out the diaspora.

My name is Terrell Villiers, also known as ‘Frostgawd’. I am a cartoon illustrator based in Miami, Florida. I’m a first-generation American born to British-Jamaican parents. If I could describe my work in a few words, they would probably be “Unapologetically Black and Queer.” The inspiration behind my work comes from different Black, Alternative, and Queer social media influencers, models, fashion designers, and close friends of mine. As well as Carribean dance culture, and lastly, my childhood love for cartoons, more specifically, black cartoons. Shows like Little Bill, Proud Family, and Static Shock (just to name a few...) really set the blueprint for illustrators like myself, to showcase their heritage through their work. Nowadays, I feel like there’s a huge lack of representation for Queer, Alternative, Black, Carribean kids in today’s cartoon television community and I would like to change that. I am absolutely elated & honored to be an ambassador for the CONNEK JA family, and I’m excited to see what the future has in store with us!

All images by Terrell Villiers // See more of his work at https://terrellvilliers-creations.com/