ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is composed of paintings that are made mostly after my Pop Pop's (grandpa) photography. I like to think of it as our life-long collaboration. The paintings mimic the composition of photographs cropped to a snapshot in time. Oil paint is applied generously to the canvas as a celebration of family. Nostalgia is the focal point. I linger around the actions of smiling, being held, being loved on, being adored, posing for school photos, and all candid moments. I paint to normalize and celebrate Blackness. I paint to connect with people who may not look like me. I paint to demand the viewers to become mirrors of this outpour of tenderness. I paint to remember what my loved ones' essence was when they are no longer earth-bound. I am in awe and inspired by the many ways love shows up in family and community. THAT is what drives my work.
Studio Beats