For the last nineteen years my work has focused on painting found people from the 1890s, whose photos I found in the trash. Although I don't know who these people are, they changed my life. Initially, what they helped me understand is the finite time we have here on earth. That realization lit a fire underneath me and pushed me to go after what I love, using their visage as my symbol.
Portraying anonymous people in this pop aesthetic urges viewers to ask ""who is that?"" This has led me to seek out stories I can actually tell. Some figures who were drawn to me over the last few years include: James Baldwin, Emmeline Pankhurst, Lucy Parsons, Frederick Douglass, George F. Johnson, Thomas Garrett, Louise Michel, Edward Bellamy, Assata Shakur... and the list continues to grow.
When I realized what I had already begun to do, and looked around at what's happening today, that's when I decided to dig in a little deeper. Synchronicity and connection got me here and as I take a firmer direction on my path, it continues to guide my research. Open one book and it leads to another. All of these stories are connected.
They're connected to you and to me.
I can't tell every story, but I can point to a few and hope that the viewer takes it as an example. I don't know if I still believe in utopia, but I do believe in rebellion.
