Conquered Beauty
5 January 2022.
Acrylic on canvas mixed media painting (18x24 inches).
I'm compelled to inform viewers of natural hair stigmas and their effect on a Black woman's self-image. My mixed-media painting, Conquered Beauty, invites the viewer to intimately and emotionally engage with my self-portrait, as we gaze at each other. Paper transfers disclosing hair injustices frame my face. Race-based hair discrimination dates back to slavery as women of African descent historically wore their hair in elaborate styles, until enslavers cut their hair to assimilate and dehumanize them. In confidence and liberation I stare at the viewer, adorned by my crown - my beautiful afro.
Washing Away
18 January 2022.
Acrylic on canvas mixed media painting (16x20 inches).
The intent of this portrait, Washing away, is to communicate the harm stereotyping poses to the Black community and other cultural groups. Whitewashed is the term used to describe a person of colour who does not fit the stereotypes assigned to their race or has assimilated Western culture. The word is harmful as it devalues one's experiences as a racialized individual and feeds into stereotypes associated with one's racial group. An expression of sadness and distress is seen on my face as white paint drips over it, representing whitewashing. The letters in the background spell "not black enough," which I have heard on numerous occasions. My torso fades into the background, symbolizing my cultural erasure and a loss of identity, congruent with the title of this piece.
Quiet Storm (Visual)
7 October 2022.
Acrylic on Canvas (9x12 inches).
In June of 2022, I created a poem titled Quiet Storm. The poem speaks to an internal struggle with selfidentity and awareness. This acrylic-on-canvas painting presents viewers with a visual interpretation of the poem. In creating this painting, I put careful consideration into compositional elements to create visual balance within the piece.
Surviving Isolation (ROM 2021)
22 January 2021.
Acrylic on canvas (9x12 inches).
This is a painting of myself and the items that have assisted me in being resilient during the pandemic. Through this painting, I demonstrate my ability to adjust to a sudden misfortunate change. I showcase the various items that assisted me throughout the pandemic such as my headphones, MacBook, literature, and painting. I have also learned the importance of self-care and prioritizing yourself in order to maintain a good mental state throughout difficult times.
Original photograph (digital):
Fashion Statement? (Drapery Study)
1 December 2021.
Coloured pencil on paper (9 x 12 inches).
This still life seeks to explore the effect of light on the folds of drapery. I created a dynamic dress on a model utilizing a piece of fabric and a string. Through this piece, I exhibit my fashion design skills and interpret them through a visual arts lens. Using a monochromatic colour scheme, I can demonstrate the shadows and highlights present on the fabric.
Original photograph (digital):Like Daughter, Like Mother
27 January 2021.
Graphite on paper (8 x 9 inches).
Through the Narrative Still Life, I am portraying my mother's personality. My mother is someone I admire; thus, she greatly influences me. Some aspects of me resemble her, speaking to the title, Like Mother, Like Daughter. In photographing the still life, I created dramatic shadows to create an engaging composition. A seashell is seen as we both love the beach and water. My mother and I both enjoy reading as all the items are placed upon a book. The still life is dedicated to a significant figure in my life, my mother.
Original photograph (digital):
Overgrown
25 January 2023.
Modeling clay and found objects (5 x 4 x 3 inches).
Through this peace I intend to express the need for self-care and prioritizing yourself. It is often that people become overly consumed or suffocated by external factors, resulting in a lack of care for themselves. The title, Overgrown, speaks to how vines grow over something and stifle it. As people pour themselves into other people and things, they subconsciously leave minimal time for themselves, thus, becoming mentallydrained.
Model Status
25 November 2021.
Ballpoint pen on paper(8.5 x 11 inches).
In a journey of self-love, internet influence plays a role in shaping your self-view. Accepting that afro hair is not society’s beauty standard while being able to recognize the beauty in Black hair is a crucial aspect of loving yourself as a Black individual. This portrait captures the beauty of an internet influencer who embraces her natural hair, someone who had an influence on my self-love and acceptance journey. Her influence demonstrates how representation is essential as this influencer has allowed me to see the beauty in my natural hair and, ultimately, fall in love with it.
Feminize me
11 January 2023.
Clay and mixed media assemblage sculpture (7.5 x 5.5 x 4 inches).
Feminize Me displays the psychological and social connections of misogynoir to the experience of a Black woman. Society often assigns masculine traits to Black women as a means of racism and sexism. These intersecting forms of oppression pose psychological and physiological harm to these women. Feminize me speaks to how Black women present themselves as hyper-feminine to counter societies’ invalidation of Black femininity. My clay assemblage sculpture is an amalgamation of ceramic clay, acrylic paints and artificial flowers. The masculine portrayal of Black women often causes them to present themselves in a hyper-feminine way, represented by the arrangement of delicate and feminine flowers in a way that replicates the shape of an afro. It is then that the viewer sees the divine feminine Black woman.
Dynamics
10 January 2023.
Through this three-dimensional piece I intend to encapsulate the beauty of nature by means of an abstract representation. The structure of this piece replicates that of a trillium flower. I considered the rule-of-threes and triangular composition to create visual balance throughout the composition. Utilizing the rule of threes creates an intriguing sculpture that is memorable to the observer. Also, a triangular composition creates a visually appealing piece from all angles. Thus, in rotating the sculpture, an upside-down triangle conveys a feeling of energy, while a right-side-up triangle creates a feeling of balance and stability. I desire to achieve an abstract piece that incorporates characteristics of the Futurism Abstract art movement. Using angular facets, I have created dynamism and movement throughout the sculpture.
Smile Jamaica
10 November 2022.
I created this acrylic on wood mixed media painting (24x36 inches), intending to encapsulate the beauty of the Island of Jamaica. The Title, Smile Jamaica, comes from a song by Jamaican Reggae Artist, Chronixx. In the song, he personifies the island by comparing it to a beautiful woman. Through this personification, he describes the rich history and beauty of the island. In this painting, compositional elements such as the rule of thirds are used to emphasize the orange house, to convey a feeling of home, optimism and energy. The viewer can capture Jamaica's beauty and vibrancy through this painting.
Sunset at Home
10 June 2022.
Home is both a feeling and a place. This acrylic on canvas mixed media landscape painting is a candid moment of a sunset in Jamaica. I exhibit a feeling of home through abstract representation. In altering the colour and capturing fleeting moments of light, I created a painting that displays characteristics from the Impressionist art movement. The colours were altered to be warm tones to emanate physical and emotional warmth onto the viewer.
Memories I Sea
22 November 2022.
This acrylic on wood mixed media painting was created to capture the nostalgic feeling of a pre-pandemic moment. The darker colours are symbolic of the melancholy brought about by the pandemic. At the same time, the smaller emergency rafts reference quarantine isolation. This landscape uses a double complementary colour scheme to contrast warm and cold colours. A double triangular composition is seen while adding roundness to balance the sharpness of the triangles, adding interest to the composition.
