Jakim Kalonji

Visual Art – Washington, D.C.

Born Michael-Jakim Kalonji (JAH-KEEM; KUH-LONE-JEE) Thomas, he is a self-taught visual artist born and raised in Maryland. Growing up in Prince George's County as the second of four children he began to draw at the age of 5 and quickly excelled, designing covers for his youth groups and church program booklets. His first formal art class was in his Sophomore year of high school at Bishop McNamara in Forrestville, MD. He then went on to study Electronic Studio Art and Film at Howard University where he continued to design, promote, and create various digital works throughout the University and in the DMV community. Jakim began painting in the summer of 2014 and had his first solo art show in October entitled Coffee Brown highlighting the beauty and diverse aspects of a black woman. Artist Statement - As an artist, finding a visual voice is difficult. I spend my time trying to define or describe what my voice to the people actually is. Part of my process is looking not at what people are saying or doing, but what they might be feeling. What am I feeling? Taking cues from history and looking at the collective consciousness of this nation, I search for meaning in my art. It begins as listening and watching, later graduating to reading and thinking. I spend time researching the various parts of the human psyche which retain and transmit the common psychological inheritance of mankind. These symbols and motifs are alive and present in the minds of us all. With each brush stroke I hope to reinvent, reestablish, or rekindle a connection with the viewer that I believe has been hidden or lost some time ago. I try with all of my art to connect on a subconscious level. The eyes only rest on an image for so long. I am old fashioned. And with so many trends, fads, followings, and popular art circling this fabricated and increasingly digital network of society, I find it hard to connect with the world outside of art. It is hard for me to find an individual thought that is recognizable to the social construct of this changing world. I want to speak to the human spirit. In a way my work is a chronical of my experiences, fears, thoughts, feelings, and hopes for the world.