I use the observation of my surroundings and the monitoring of my emotions within those surroundings as a way to construct imagery that express internal ideas of vulnerability. In doing this, I explore the concept of how the human connection to each other and emotional experiences influences the psychology involved in the interpretation of imagery.
The narratives that I depict are personal ones that I have not expressed otherwise. My goal in the paintings is for the viewer to initially see the imagery, and though all of the components may not make sense, have the sense that there is a deeper meaning behind the recognizable elements. I set up the compositions by taking reference photos of myself. I know myself the best, I know what emotions I feel and how I want them to be explained in the paintings. The paintings are slightly smaller than life. This scale still allows me to paint small details and the sounding space within the picture plane, encouraging me to address the narrative through other objects other than figure portraits. My work is in conversation with Frida Kahlo, who used self-portraiture to depict a narrative of experiences in her personal life as well as questions of identity, gender, and race, amongst other ideals. I also look to Kerry James Marshall’s use of complex scenery and multi-grounded portraiture as a source of technical reference as to how a picture plane can be activated in portraiture as well as his fascination with the mundane nature of black people and how they occupy any space with style. My work similarly points to the celebration of black culture and the exploration of spiritual connection to equivocal experiences between individuals. Similar to artist Rene Magritte, who uses his personal encounters to create ambiguous portraits that he is familiar with. Likewise, my work points to personal experiences that are to be acquainted with the audience in ambiguity. I believe there is beauty in the human form and spiritual connection, and with my work, I have the power to set perimeters for shared emotional and spiritual experiences and discussions about vulnerability, the representation of black bodies, and the ambiguity of experience. |