ARTIST STATEMENT
My art raises questions about the images and representations that inform contemporary readings and performances of Black male masculinity. By engaging with various stereotypes and misconceptions about Black men–both those imposed and those assumed–I attempt a critical intervention concerning the visible and invisible threads that make up our collective understandings of Black identity.
Incorporating various expressions of "Blackness," which includes the visual iconography of Yoruba (Ifa) spirituality, the somatic attitude of hip-hop bravado, and philosophy of the négritude movement, I work to re-member the fractured Black body. In mining the Black experience both historically and contemporaneously, I can dynamically engage this theme with work that though rooted in the Black experience, provides meaningful engagement across all walks of life.
My works take the form of paintings, videos, original music and performance-based projects with each medium allowing me to articulate various nuances around the theme.
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TRAPADEMIA III: 7 African Powers
TRAPADEMIA II: LIT
PRAISE SONGS
OF CROWNS AND KINGS
TRAPADEMIA
REAL NEGUS DONT DIE
Memory
Black Magic
Music As a Weapon
The People Could Fly
#BLACKMATTERLIVES
DO or DIE: Affect, Ritual, Resistance
TALKING DRUM
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD BLINGS
IMAGINING NEW WORLDS
GRAV•I•TY
Pursuit of Happiness
How to Eat Watermelon
NEGUS in Paris
All Dat Glitters Aint Goals
ART HISTORY neXt
HARD2DEATH
