Visual Art – Charlotte
All my life, art has always been a significant part of my life. During childhood, I saw my father produce a drawing. Whenever I reflect on it, it doesn’t seem very complex, but from the eyes of a child, it was the greatest thing on Earth. It was the day I chose to become an artist. Since that time, my life hasn’t always accepted art. In spite of how many discouraging influences, art hasn’t diminished as a passion.
Throughout my life, I’ve been curious, fascinated, overwhelmed by many things in my life. These things were a cacophony of myriad events, filled with beauty, heartbreak, disappointment, depression, misconceptions, poor-judgment, and so much more. Aspects which make us human, these are the characteristics which illustrate like alike the colors of a painting. The results of those events are my feelings. This is my inspiration.
Before painting, there were drawings; my allies were graphic novels and outdated magazines. I began drawing images from those books as a child. After drawing various myths, I have drawn images of celebrities my community admired to gain acceptance amongst my peers. Still, it was never enough for me. The endless drive and hunger to learn more about art haven’t ceased. Neither the principle of my schools nor the teachers of my classrooms could impede my creativity.
I attended undergraduate school at Elizabeth City State University, ECSU; and graduated in the year, 2012. As an undergraduate, I was enlightened about the value of being an African American and enduring to overcome whatever odds that will come. The Fine Arts department of ECSU was enriched with the passion to instruct and motivate a young artist to be what the desire. Those young inspired students were print-makers, painters, and graphic designers.
Not until I attended graduate school, I began to dive further into the discipline, art. I learned about contemporary art, abstract expressionism, expressionism and to combine styles art, such as neo-mannerism, surrealism, etc., to whatever knowledge and techniques I obtained while attending the University of North Dakota, UND. I expanded my intellect within the MFA (Master in Fine Arts) program. Throughout the past three years within the graduate school, I had grown significantly within various media of art. In the month, December of 2015, I graduated from UND’s MFA program.
Since then, I continue to produce and advance as a professional.