About What I Do

My art centers around the power of storytelling. It is the root structure of all human experience; through the stories we tell, we can connect on a deep and meaningful level. My work draws heavily on my experiences growing up in a Black household in the Bay Area and the joy and beauty I find in everyday life's details. Whether it's the intricate decorations of my great-grandmother's jewelry, the colorful palette of a beauty supply store, or the bold graffiti and street art that adorn the city's walls, I find inspiration in the people and places surrounding me. I paint for a younger self, focusing on Oakland and the legacy of Marcus Books store, a cultural hub for generations of Black Americans and my family’s business.

I am constantly pushing against the conventional methods of figuration and seeking new ways to express the complex interplay of memory and imagination that defines the human experience. The figures in my work, if not direct images of myself, are entirely made up and drawn from the memory of a person or people. These figures represent specific times, moments, and personalities that have impacted or continue to impact the African diaspora in the most magical ways I see fit. My work includes indexical references to other pop culture media, from Hyphy movement staples to lowriders to the Black Arts Movement. I strive to create a rich and multi-layered narrative that reflects the depth and complexity of the world around us.

In my Oakland Royalty/Blueprint series, I use secondhand materials in multiple mediums to create a world so familiar to my community and me. By enlarging items regularly used by Black women across the diaspora, I amplify a voice rarely heard. The series heavily gestures towards the saying I was told as a teenager that “ghetto means creative.” Whatever the method, bookwork, painting, sculpture, etc. I offer my voice in each piece. Through my work, I aim to capture the transcendent power of art, culture, and lineage and create a love letter to the city I call home.