A suite of large scale drawings with mixed-media, intimately small-scaled light boxes and two sculptures comprises The Boy Project, now in development. The work responds to my young son’s tendency to depict and enact violence in play and art making. By creating a space for art to intersect with experiential parenting, this project explores the currency of violence in our culture and the related challenges facing Black boys and men. Consistent with my previous work, the project engages specific histories and cultural and religious practices of the African Diaspora. The act of making and sharing each piece serves to invoke protections over our young boys and to provoke dialogue about violence, cultural/ancestral memory and the psychic dynamics of protective nurturing.

Artistic Approach

My artistic practice is vested in a creative pragmatism deeply rooted in my lived experiences and personal family history. The standard for my art making is that it has to advance the well being of those who encounter it. This project is born out of pressing personal necessity as I process the threats and sickening realities that the specter of gun violence foists upon all of us. It creates a platform for broad consideration of how violence impacts the lives of Black males and whether it is a necessary part of human growth. The ongoing development of this project has been supported by an 2017 residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts.

Essential Questions

Through its layered imagery and symbolic juxtapositions, the project probes the following essential questions:

Can a parent/artist move with the imagination and intent of a child to create a space of respect, affirmation and dialogue?

What can this space look like? Can the interactions in it be art?

How can the artist engage the physical experiences of play and violence by relating them to culturally specific ideas and imagery?

Telling the Story

The strategies for presenting this work draw heavily upon my experiences developing museum exhibitions. Visual formats for the project’s installation seek to create immersive interactive experiences. The story of the installation will unfold as the viewer moves around the space encountering themes that go from the the most intimate and fragile to images that become increasingly daring and challenging. Most pieces in this body of work overlay scaled up drawings done by my young son with my own responsive imagery including the figure, animals, traditional Haitian symbolism and trickster imagery from throughout the Diaspora.

Programming Opportunities

A scope of related programs will be offered to engage parents and learning communities around the expressive culture of young children. Parent and artist workshops are in the early planning stages and will focus on art- driven experiential communication to open up dialogues about violence, play and culture.

Studio Views