I’m interested in depicting the human form in a highly realistic manner. My work has gone through several developmental changes. I have used text and various methods of mark making to create images. The text used comprises a plethora of sources ranging from literature to song lyric and slang terminology. Often the text is so integrally fused that its layers alone generate the resultant image. These billboard size paintings are intended to provoke. Their graphic imagery is my reaction to the unflattering depiction of black youth by the media. Black culture has been predominately epitomized as the Hip-Hop sub-culture. Unfortunately, what is being projected into the American psyche is a hyper-sexualized image of black people who are obsessed with materialism, misogyny, and violence. I have found this pervasive buffoonery to be severe and problematic. Making paintings is my way of combating these negative stereotypes, not promoting or affirming them.



I work primarily in oil paint, but I have experimented with various other materials. I have studied the techniques of the old masters and appropriated their methods as a means to express my perspective as a black person. I come from a working class family in Belize where there is a tradition of relatives working with their hands. Their emphasis on craftsmanship has influenced my approach to making art.

 

Last Updated: July 29, 2005