Artist Statement

As a sensitive human, I often find myself in deep introspection, moving through life with a keen sense of wonder; more inward than outward by nature, always observing. Within my world, memory and identity are recurring concepts that pull at me. Who are we outside of what we know or believe ourselves to be? How does cultural heritage shape the person standing here today? Without memory, are we non-existent?

 

Living in the African diaspora, and having lost a significant portion of my early memories, I am guided by a persistent pull toward home, whether that's a place, a people or a feeling. My work is an act of returning...of seeking, remembering, and preserving that which would otherwise be lost. To paint is, for me, to recover and to bear witness; to gain a deeper understanding of who I am; to document life as it unfolds, and to leave proof that it happened at all. Perhaps, it may also be a selfish practice of recording proof of my existence, and to say that I too, was here.