2021

This piece is a self portrait in the style of Alice Neel and my first full body painted self portrait. This was the result of having to use myself as a sitter for portraits during the covid-19 quarantine. I think for many, myself included, isolation caused a shift in the relationship to the self physically and emotionally. Making this work helped me better understand my personal transformation and is paired perfectly with Alice Neel’s style; intriguing and continuing my likeness and energy on canvas for the sake of comfort and representation with an unflinching honesty. Her work has a penetrative quality that I attempted to emulate and give the audience a sense of pride in my blackness.