Artist Statement
I am a Brooklyn based historian and multi-disciplinary artist centering my paintings around emotional intimacy within the Black diaspora. I am inspired by Black history, Black Americana, and vintage black & white portrait photographs. Using ethnographic research and reference photos, I paint portraits of contemporary Black people, typically women, frozen with stoic reactions or moods. Using a multitude of mediums and techniques combined with symbols, textures, patterns, and vibrant colors to tell stories and portray emotion, I give voice to the Black woman who is constantly transposing between a state of angst and of regality. I strive to make conscious, direct, intimate, and whimsical art that presents a stoic gaze to the viewer, with hopes of preserving and protecting the beauty that exists in everyday Black life.
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