In Progress Painting

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Notes from a Jerry Saltz lecture at SVA

Here are my notes from attending a talk by art critic Jerry Saltz during the painting and mixed media residency at SVA in New York this summer. This advice closely relates to artists!IMG_0920.JPG

  • Keep it simple stupid or K.I.S.S.
  • Make an enemy of Cynicism (I know why…)
  • Eyes are looking out not in
  • Make an enemy of envy (among your peers)
  • Work, work, work, work, work
  • We don’t have certainty, we have paradox in the art world
  • Stay up late with other vampires and protect each other (yes he actually said vampires)
  • Stop feeling sorry for yourself
  • Instragram is a “rebus”/ language in pictures
  • Pay attention to obsessions. There’s something inside of it
  • How big of a audience do you need and/or want?
  • All you need are 4 collectors, 1 dealer, 2 critics, and 1 curator to be a success
  • Commune with the ancestors!
  • Every decision you make is absolutely right
  • Artists are modern shaman
  • Artists are useless but we need you
  • Artists perform weird magic for cultures
  • We all have different Hamlet’s, we all are different villages
  • Disrupt icons with content
  • We live in a political age
  • Are your dreams giving you your entire career?
  • Use the value of art
  • Tell a story in your writing

Published in the Kalfou journal

Hair, pony beads, sequins, wood, brown canvas 2014

My journey to New Orleans for the Black Arts Movement Conference led to another exciting opportunity. I am pleased to announce that my artwork and thesis for Black-\Blák\, will be published in the upcoming Spring 2017 issue of Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies.

Kalfou is is an academic journal published by the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California in Santa Barbara. My writing will be in the featured section, “Art and Social Social Action.” There will be a few photos of artworks to accompany the written essay.

Thank you to those who supported my New Orleans conference trip; I could not be accepting this invitation to Kalfou if I had not attended the BAM conference. I look forward to the next publication and I hope you grab a copy.

New exhibition at Illinois Central College!

I am currently in a combined exhibition with my colleague Carmen Sanchez-Lorente at Illinois Central College in the Performing Arts Center Gallery from March 22-April 14, 2017. Our exhibition will be accompanied with an artist talk from both Carmen and I on March 30th. I am excited to be finally displaying new work right before the annual faculty exhibition. For more information, visit the arts page on the ICC.edu website.IMG_3036.JPG

Black Creativity Gala 2017

The Black Creativity Gala was a fun and glamourous event. I enjoyed mingling and seeing beautifully dressed people crawling all over the place. I saw a few old friends and made some new friends as well. I hope the folks that crossed my path that night can still feel my energy.

Drawing on colored paper

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In my drawing class we’re encouraged to critically think about what a drawing is. I’m personally exploring the stereotype of does the size matter. Can a small drawing be a good drawing? This is watercolor pencil, colored pencil, and pen on colored paper.