classic period

This work represents what I now call my classic period.  The style is based on flat blocks of color used to create the landscape with a central figure in the foreground.  Some of the characters are carrying crates of commodities on their heads.  These characters were inspired by a character in a painting done by Jean Michelle Basquiat in which he depicted a colonizer in a safari helmet along side of an African "native" who of course was carrying his load of goods, in this case I think it was salt.  I decided to depict a variety of contemporary Africans carrying contemporary goods to draw attention to how many of the dynamics stemming from and feeding into colonialism exist in the present. Other images focus on the rising sun coming up over a crossroads.  To me this combination of images represents being at a point of decision and having a new opportunity to make the most of that choice.  Most of these paintings were done between 2000 and 2002 and the style emerged while I was living in Brooklyn, New York in 2000.


Sunrise Over Crossroads  2001

Planned Parenthood  2001

Patience  2002

Blk Luv  2002

Bling on My Mind  2001