African Landscape (Impression #1) Painting

As a painter and multimedia artist, my aim is to inspire, and evoke freedom, passion, pride, joy, pain, ecstasy. I want Black people to be free, to feel free; through art I dream about what that could look like, what freedom feels like to me; through art I get to reflect on my experience(s) as a Black man in America, examining the obstacles and challenges which define the constant struggle for freedom. I use prismatic colors to connote passion, freedom, creativity, inclusivity, light, employing symbolism and iconic imagery to communicate encoded messages often through common shared understanding/meaning. This use of shared knowledge may help viewers find an immediate or intimate connection with my work, even as it conveys much that is personal and private for me. Making something out of nothing... I have a duty to serve: my people, my community, my world... through my God-given gift of creating. I feel this duty largely because art has been my salvation, informing my awareness, my education, my healing, my advancement, my growth.. as a human, a citizen of the world, a Black man. Art is a gift to share with the world, to help uplift and inspire all, but especially to uplift and inspire Black people with thoughts and visions of liberation, prayers for our souls in this mean time.