Hazel Hill McCarthy III (b.1980) is a Los Angeles based artist, designer and filmmaker. After graduating in 2003 from Art Center, Pasadena, CA, she established the gallery Show Cave in Los Angeles, which presented local, national and international artists working across diverse media. During this time, McCarthy’s work was centered on exploring the Hollywood tough-guy male film star as embodied by the likes of Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas. She sought to create an altered viewing experience through re-edits of film. McCarthy’s interest in the representation of gender in mainstream culture led her to create a series of touring group shows, notably Licker License, and Gentle Jousting, both of which were presented in Los Angeles; New York City; Mexico City; London; Amsterdam; Berlin and Milan.
McCarthy is co-founder of Hazelium, a broad ranging production company for her solo and collaborative work. In 2016, she directed a feature-length film, Bight of the Twin, which explores the origins of vodoun [sic] in Ouidah, Benin with artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. The work has screened internationally in US, UK, Mexico, Germany, Poland, and Russia. McCarthy has also collaborated with P-Orridge on Thee Psychick Bible, Feral House, 2009, and Thee Psychick Bible of early Psychic TV and TOPY (Temple ov Psychick Youth) Videos from the P-Orridge archives. Her short films have screened at The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, the Barbican and ICA, both London.
McCarthy’s next project, Via Cruxis, is an investigation into a one-day event held annually on Good Friday in the remote village of Carrillo Puerto, Chiapas – the southernmost state of Mexico. Documenting the lead up to the festivities as well as interviewing key participants, Via Cruxis closely films the remarkable procession that is based on the 'stations of the cross' but incorporates an intriguing blend of indigenous pageantry, Catholic faith and a local view of US consumerism/imperialism.