I chose the title “Patience” for my exhibition because it’s the most descriptive virtue of not only my art style, but the way I have come to thrive in this self discovering journey of life. My exhibition will be my way of embodying that patience and bringing it to life. Dot by dot my art will share with you stories of struggle, pain, perseverance, and the constant battle between us and the elements we must endure in our lifetime. Outside of specific emotions I also hope to share stories of endurance, and pushing forward through suffering and the challenges that life hands you with no tools to combat them with. Some of these stories will be my own, my experiences with homelessness, heartbreak, loss, and how I chose to filter the negative emotions like anger, betrayal and fear into my art, into my patience, and into work that I finally get to share with my community.
A particular story that brought me to titling this exhibition “patience” was my own rejection from art school. After pushing through the struggles of my adolescence, my goals as an artist that I had been working towards felt defeated, and my choices were to give up, or to have patience and preserver. I am proud to say my patience has brought me here, to a point where I can call my first goals met, and put my work and effort into greater goals I’ve given myself. Other stories I create in my art surround that very community that I am great full to share my story with. Some of my pieces are meant to bring light to social or political voices in our community where I feel patience has been key to the story I’m sharing, and why I feel my style has brought it to life.
One of the biggest Inspirations to my art style in pointillism was the artist George Seurat, and his work “Sunday afternoon on the island on grande Jatte”, a pointillism piece I saw daily on a mural in my high school cafeteria. It’s not only a life goal of mine to see that piece in person, but to make my own piece of that size or greater, with my story embedded in every detail, and every point. Along with the inspiration of the artist Seurat, I use a lot of manga and anime inspired poses, black and white imagery, and intense emotionally grabbing scenes drawn specifically to give you an emotional story in a moments glance. Along with that mural in my school, the mangas I read became one of the few protected memories I brought from my childhood into my art style and adulthood to help intensify the emotions is each of the pieces and stories I share. To everyone that has come here to share this milestone with me, thank you, I hope you will follow me with patience as I continue on my journey as a proud Detroit artist.
The reception will take place on Saturday, August 10th from 6pm-10pm