This time last year, I was Blessed to have been part of a wonderful "happening" of sorts. A combination of an art show, music venue, poetry space, and social gathering all wrapped into one, of which, spanned a little over a month. It was called Tiny Room For Elephants (TRFE).
photo credit: Tiny Room For Elephants, Donte Neal
In the Beginning...
It all started with a phone call in early Fall of 2016 from a fellow artist by the name of Donte Neal (aka MARS), and he had invited me to participate in this project which would incorporate various disciplines of the Arts into a continuous series of happenings over a one month period. Of course, I enthusiastically said 'Yes', I was so excited to participate in such a wonderful concept!
My Concept...
As one of the participating visual artists, I was given the task to paint, in my style, basically anything I wanted on a surface that would scale about about 12 feet by 11 feet. This would be one of the largest solo painting that I had to work on-- and I felt like I was up for the challenge! Most of my work is representational and socio-political, I deal with issues that plague my community and issues of other people who are disenfranchised. So after some meditation on the subject matter I wanted to tackle, I came up with the concept... how colonization continues to affect communities today.
Going to Work...
Detail 1 of the underpainting, acrylic on wood
Upon arrival to the old warehouse which housed the happening, I noticed the relaxed atmosphere with other visual artists, musicians, and poets all working alongside one another. I then reached into my bag and pulled out the materials and started mapping out the painting with a monochrome palette, black & white.
Detail 2 of the underpainting, acrylic on wood
Detail 3 of the underpainting, acrylic on wood
A broader shot, end of day one of painting, acrylic on wood
Thus ends the first part of this article, please stay tuned for My painting: Decolonize Boriken to Standing Rock part 2
All images words and images are my own for the exception of the TRFE flyer, which is credited. For more information from the artist Donte Neal, please visit his website: http://donteneal.com
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