Country of Origin: West Palm Beach, FL

Based In: Atlanta, GA

Main Medium:

About
I am a mixed-media painter and art educator. I received my Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). My studio work has been shown in solo exhibitions at MICA, York College, Waller Gallery, and Creative Alliance as well as group shows at African American Museum of Dallas, Band of Vices, Carroll Mansion, Washington Project for the Arts, Arlington Art Center, Main Line Art Center, Towson University, and Terrault Gallery. In recognition of my craft, he has received many awards, including a Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award, Bethesda Painting (Young Artist) Award, and the Baker Artist Award. I spent the last 10 years teaching and working as a practicing artist in Baltimore. I recently moved to Atlanta with my partner who currently is a first year medical student at Emory University. Now working as an artist and high school educator in Atlanta, I am eager to make connections in the area to continue broadening my network.

About their Work
I am a man who paints, draws, and collages to tell stories of power manifested in resilient peoples, determined to resist erasure and break free of master narratives. My work embodies a unique strength expounded by the oppressed. I explore race, history, and intersectionality. My ideas are often expressed in a graphic style that incorporates realism, minimalism, and hard-edge painting. My mixed media works show individuals in and out of black and white spaces, shaped like rectangles and squares, a metaphor for segregation, defiance, and loss. The black space represents Black power, and the white space represents white supremacy. The blue overhead can carry different meanings based on the scene shown underneath its band of color. Depending on its size, shade, and placement, the blue can symbolize peace, tension, or the abuse of power. Strengthened by my role as a Black educator, I capture moments of atmospheric and direct tension and rebellion to rattle America's exclusionary ideals and legacies – choices enacted by the impact of deferring Black joy for centuries.