![]() This creative series is an honest look at what it has been like to move through and acknowledge the most recent ways depression has shown in my life. Art has been my way of navigating through a relationship with depression that manifested as insomnia when I was 14 years old. ![]() My insomnia continued into adulthood and peaked 15 years later when I would hit one of the darkest periods in my life, and somehow out of it I ended up learning how to do photo manipulation. Over the years of therapy, I leaned into this digital hobby which led to graphic design, photography, and eventually painting. At every point of my personal struggle, I found myself leaning into a world of creativity that eventually came to life and grew into me becoming a whole new person.A completely different man that I never imagined myself to be. I realize that every stage of creative growth was preceded by a bout of depression. The process that I took to overcome these struggles seemed to produce a new creative skill, or a new artistic technique or medium. This current series is a reflection of the most recent global struggles of 2020 which culminates with me losing my stepfather, the man who raised me, the week before Thanksgiving. The most challenging and disregulating experience in my life thus far. I attempted to go through my normal mental health routine of painting, but my hands couldn't stop shaking. I couldn't control it, I couldn't hold a paint brush because I lost control of my hands for weeks, and for some reason, I couldn't see my colors clearly. Everything looked like hues of grey in my sight once I tried to put strokes of color on a canvas. For two or three months I was struggling to process the emotions without my normal creative outlets. My nightmares came back, in black and white and seemed to be like storm clouds that continuously changed form into whatever was angering, terrifying, or frustrating me over the last year. My therapist and I knew that my healing depended on me getting out what I was seeing in my mind. It took some time, but I realized that since I was in a completely new and unexpected season in my life, my medium of expression may need to pivot equally and as abruptly. This collection, Out of Darkness is that medium of expression. Click an image bellow or HERE To see the full collection Dont Stop DancingMy first installment of the Black Inc series. Dont Stop Dancing is inspired by the struggle and joy of the Black Woman and how no matter the situation or circumstance, she will find joy in life by simply dancing. The piece is a hand-polished acrylic glass pane that produces a mesmeric depth effect – the shimmering reflections will make your acrylic photo print seem to come alive. Good Bad Hair DayThe energy struggles of black hair. "I thought i tied my locs up last night...." Out of Darkness . The piece is a hand-polished acrylic glass pane that produces a mesmeric depth effect – the shimmering reflections will make your acrylic photo print seem to come alive. ManifestationTrying to conjure in my head some form of creativity, some patter of colors, an idea, a something to breath into life. The piece is a hand-polished acrylic glass pane that produces a mesmeric depth effect – the shimmering reflections will make your acrylic photo print seem to come alive. ConfusionThe fog, the cloud, or feeling to billowing smoke that distort our thoughts and ability to focus on anything. Out of Darkness The piece is a hand-polished acrylic glass pane that produces a mesmeric depth effect – the shimmering reflections will make your acrylic photo print seem to come alive. |
A Journey Through This Inverted World.
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