Today we’d like to introduce you to Mye Coates.
Hi Mye, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started MERBOH Art Lab as a way to empower my younger self. I’ve always loved creating and working with my hands (going back as far as age 10), but inadvertently stepped away from that passion to pursue a traditional career in business management, primarily in the financial services sector. The detour wasn’t intentional, but my lack of clarity and confidence certainly fueled it.
For several years I worked at a Fortune 500 company playing the role of a project manager, a position that ‘on paper’ contradicted my creative core. Fortunately, I had a strong work ethic and excellent communication skills so was able to make the position my own. I started playing around with graphics and became a visual storyteller, building premium assets for C-suite leaders. That experience quietly reignited my love for art and design. I was thrilled to be doing work more aligned with my purpose, yet I still craved space for artistic play—something largely absent in what I describe as a conservative corporate culture.
As I began reading more books, many rooted in metaphysics, and refining my design sensibilities through travel, a clearer path started to emerge—one where I could tell my own story through visual form. This coincided with what I like to call the “Creating Our Vision In Detail” era—the unprecedented event that unfolded worldwide between 2020 and 2023. MERBOH was founded during that period—a time when many people were reassessing their lives in search of deeper meaning. I was no different, though I had been on that inward journey for years so launching MERBOH was like a rite of passage.
The name MERBOH is derived from two ideas: mercantile, representing open exchange, and bohemian, representing the creative spirit. The pairing is a unique space dedicated to conscious creation. It allows me to express myself freely using modern language that celebrates human potential. I found my way back to doing what I love through curiosity, experimentation, and self-awareness and I hope my work resonates with people on a similar path— those with the audacity to follow their heART. One of my favorite quotes is by Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “Where I create, there I am true.”
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wish. I’ve always admired people who seem born with a crystal ball—those who know exactly what they want, map out the path, and march straight toward it as if they had a LinkedIn profile set up at birth. My journey has been quite the opposite.
For a long time, I struggled to identify and articulate what I truly wanted out of life. Instead, I relied on deductive reasoning (process of elimination) to peel back the layers. While effective in its own way, it’s not an approach I’d recommend. I spent a lot of time and energy—two incredibly precious resources—moving toward what wasn’t right rather than what was.
Much of that time was spent in corporate America, where I learned primarily through contrast and discomfort. I stressed over things that had nothing to do with my true calling and often gave people and situations the benefit of the doubt instead of trusting my instincts. It was a good learning experience, but not one I’d want to repeat. In a plot twist, layoffs started occurring at the company in the years that followed and my position was ultimately eliminated (2023). I remember feeling a sense of relief when it happened—MERBOH was nearly 2 years old by that time and suddenly I had the freedom to focus on it full time.
I still struggle with uncertainty, but I ride the wave as best I can (meditation helps). I read somewhere that humans are built of atoms (99% empty space), draped in meatsuits made of stardust, riding on a rock (Earth) hurtling space. It sounds absurd, like a scene in a sci-fi movie, yet all of it is true which oddly puts me at ease.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m naturally drawn to ideas that flip convention on its head, so my work is unconventional, futuristic, and slightly offbeat. At its core, reductionism is my superpower as an artist. I’m deeply inspired by ancient knowledge—principles people understood thousands of years ago that are still relevant today. These teachings are quite dense (metaphorically speaking), often filled with abstract passages that a person can easily get lost in, so my specialty is stripping away the noise, extracting the core ideology, and recontextualizing it through simple, often unexpected, modern forms.
My work is difficult to categorize, but mixed media is the closest description. Many of my pieces are multidimensional and I often use unusual materials—such as magnets, thread, folding chairs, and plastic film to tell the story.
My most popular body of work (to date) is the Apollo 11 Series, a three-dimensional collection that explores the idea that energy—not money—is the true currency. The series aims to level the psychological playing field in society by illustrating no one is ever lacking in the resources required to live a beautiful and abundant life when they know how to manage their thoughts and emotions. The muse for it is a French figure drawing (man’s head) dating back to the 1500s.
My personal favorite is the Reserved Seating Collection (also called the iChair). I like to describe it as a humble folding chair in form, with a lot of audaciousness in function. It’s an invitation to take a seat (quite literally), quiet the mind, still the body, and recognize oneself as a limitless, omnipresent force. The work challenges the long standing notion that productivity defines our worth, proposing instead that PRESENCE is the true measure of a meaningful life. I integrated an Apple AirTag on the back as a visual pun—Apple being the pioneer of devices creating distractions in our lives, but in this context the AirTag is there to facilitate the journey inward—to be used by the chair occupant to “find” and connect with the higher-self.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Yes, what I wish I had known then—that I know now—is that JOY is a far more reliable compass. Focusing on what brings you joy is the fastest way to uncover your true purpose. It sounds almost too simple, but it really is. And as a bonus, the journey becomes a lot more enjoyable along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://merboh.com
- Instagram: @merboh.art
