10 OctOber 16-22, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | III-Pointed Comment III Points artwork takes on ICE arrests and deportations. BY SHAWN MACOMBER F or enigmatic Miami artist The Miracle Ghost (TMG), concerns over recent mass arrests and de- portations by the U.S. Immigra- tion and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are more than theoretical. The artist, who obscures his face and voice in public, emigrated to Miami from Venezuela in 2010, and his latest work, a collaboration with fel- low creative Yoni Yonson, himself the son of Argentine immigrants, addresses these anxi- eties head-on. The piece, on display at this week’s III Points Music Festival, depicts a ghost being ab- ducted by a UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenom- enon). TMG and Yonson say the work “serves as a metaphor for the systemic deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The ghost represents the resilience of the human spirit, while the UAP symbolizes the system that seeks to erase and displace it.” As tidy as the concept might sound on pa- per, TMG and Yonson weren’t planning some grand statement when they began working on the piece. The concept revealed itself as their collaboration unfolded. “I play around a lot with the paranormal, urban legends, and aliens in my work,” TMG tells New Times. “But the creative process is itself a truly mysterious phenomenon, man.” Which is to say he and Yonson were sketch- ing out ghosts and UFOs almost as a lark while simultaneously having more serious sideline conversations about ICE raids and deportations and terms like “illegal alien.” “At some point, it all clicked together,” he says. “We realized that these two things — the creative and the conversation — were not ac- tually separate. Intuitively, that’s the concept we were actually exploring; that’s the body of work we were actually building.” That epiphanous intertwining of concept and art has paid dividends: TMG and Yonson recently received one of only fifteen III Points 2025 artist grants. The award, curated by the Miami Art Society, not only distributes $10,000 across digital and physical art catego- ries, but it also earns the selected works a space in a dedicated gallery during the festival. “We received over two hundred proposals, each offering unique and innovative perspec- tives,” Miami Art Society founder Juan Pablo Sanchez says. “Narrowing it down to just fif- teen was no easy task.” It’s a validating waystation on a long and winding artistic journey. Thirty-four-year-old TMG grew up in Caracas, steeped in a graffiti culture so lively and diverse that fine arts didn’t have a chance. “It never crossed my mind to paint on canvas,” he says — that is, until he arrived in the U.S. and gained entrée to a more integrated Miami art scene through old-school Wynwood murals. “Suddenly I’m exposed to this very color- ful and interesting scene full of all these writ- ers and different artists,” he says. “I had never been exposed to that kind of community. I was like, ‘Okay, what the hell is going on here? And how can I be a part of it?’” His palette expanded. In 2016, he earned his B.F.A. with a minor in philosophy at the University of Miami, followed by an M.F.A. at the Miami International University of Art & Design in 2023. His love for graffiti and the kinetic works of late Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez began to amalgamate with the bits he dis- covered by American and European art- ists he studied until his own language — a very specific di- alect in terms of mediums (painting, digi- tal, sculpture, drawings), conceptualization, and subject matter — began to emerge. Adopting the moniker The Miracle Ghost granted him the freedom to delve deeper into creativity and spirituality, to find productive flow space outside the analytical mind. When he saw the III Points open call on the Miami Arts Society Instagram page, he tagged longtime friend Yonson. “Yoni is super talented,” TMG says. “We’ve been working together for a while al- ready, looking for a possible collaboration. And this just seemed like the perfect chance. So, I pitched the idea to him and he was like, ‘Let’s go!’” Right place, right time, too. The III Points crowd, to generalize a bit, is open to experi- encing art — many attendees, in fact, work very hard to make themselves a work of art for the event — yet doesn’t have the same bag- gage or preconceived notions of many quote- unquote connoisseurs. “Shoutout to III Points,” TMG agrees. “Because the reality is, they could keep the fest just a party with DJs and bands. Instead, they’re setting the stage for fun, but also add- ing this element of letting artists show mean- ingful conceptual art that wrestles with real contemporary issues — work that might spark some new consciousness. It’s an amaz- ing thing for them to lend the credibility they’ve built up to that.” It’s also very Miami — a nod to the cultural and aesthetic diversity that defines the city where TMG is currently in the studio, work- ing on a few paintings, a few sculptures, and a secret project. “I cannot talk about it yet,” he says, “but hopefully it’s going to be the sort of thing to start another conversation that reso- nates with people.” III Points Music Festival. Friday, October 17, and Saturday, October 18, at Mana Wynwood, 2217 NW Fifth Ave., Miami. Tickets cost $309 via iiipoints.frontgatetickets.com. [email protected] ▼ Culture Anonymous artist The Miracle Ghost’s latest work depicts a ghost being abducted by a UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon). The Miracle Ghost photo “HOPEFULLY IT’S GOING TO BE THE SORT OF THING TO START ANOTHER CONVERSATION THAT RESONATES WITH PEOPLE.” Ndo you LIKE what you see? CHECK US OUT FOR UPCOMING PARTIES AND EVENTS! facebook.com/miaminewtimes
