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Fertilization
Acrylic on canvas. I think I did his one right before starting medical school. As you can probably tell, I like surealistic scenes, things pulled directly from the imagination. No need for logic or reality. If you look closely, you can see the sperm and egg fusing in the center of the picture. The piece is a stylalized uterus floating above a phallus/penus which is welling of from the stream below and coalescing from those solid beads/balls that are floating across the dessert.
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The Hug
plain number 2 pencil on paper. Done on some lazy afernoon during my time at Howard. The male figure is supposed to resemble twisted steel. The female figer, more soft, resembles Mercury, floating in space. |
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Your Worst Enemy
Acrylic on canvas. Inspired by crooked African American politicians. I guess the idea can be applied pretty universally. Its about people who are superficially like you who do not necessarily share your ideas, or values, and who may not have your best interests at heart. |
Hyacinth
Pencil on paper. Beautiful eh?
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Hyacinth Sleeping
Pencil on paper. Done from memory, some time while in DC.
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First Kiss
Acrylic on canvas. This is a memorable afternoon in May of 1992. Our first kiss. As far as the technique is concerned, I tend to obscess with making lines neat, fine, polished and finished-looking. I was attempting to loosen up my style a little with a more random, chaotic texture. I was hoping this texture, or fuzziness would give the piece a more dream-like, or fuzzy-memory-like quality to it. |
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Baby Girl
Acrylic on canvass. A Daddy and his girl. Any daddy and any baby girl. Warm colors. Nuff said. |
Miss You Present
Pencil on paper. A Christmass/holiday present for Hy. Just to let her know I was thinking about her. That was our first season apart. Fall 1995. I had just started med school in Philly. Hyacinth was finishing her Masters in D.C. We hope never to have to do the long distance thing again. |
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Nicole
Acrylic on canvas. This is Hyacinth's best friend and sister. Sort of a present for her. The biggest challenge of this piece was the different textures. I was hoping to capture a nice balance of solids, fine textures, smooth transitions anda shadows, and a litle vibrancy with the flower. The dress is jet black, the background is pure white, the hair took forever, the skin is smooth and evenly shaded, and the rose kind of cool I think.
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First Moments
Acrylic on canvas. Approximately sixteen square feet. This is the the first time Hyacinth and I spoke to each other as I remember it. It was on the second floor of the biology department at Howard. Our lockers were across from each other. We used to see each other before Zoology exams as we tried to squeeze in a few more ounces of knowledge. It started out as a mothers day present. I had to start and restart so many times however because it wasn't coming out right. It became a graduation, then a birthday present as the weeks went on. Finally, Hyacinth went into premature labor at twenty-nine weeks and was bedridden for almost three months. I took a sebatical from school to take care of her, and did this painting in the meantime. It took most of the summer, two months once I got underway. I finished only a few days before Cassandra arrived, I guess it was a mothers day present after all. |
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Dad
Acrylic on canvas. this was a birthday present for Dad. I worked on it during the Summer of 1994. Hyacinth and I were participating in a research internship at the Department of Human Genetics of University of Illinois at Chicago that summer. I taped the canvas to the dorm room wall and used a wallet sized photo of dad as a reference. Soon after I finished, I accidently destroyed the photo by washing it with a pair of my jeans. One of my fondest memories. Mom and Dad spent hundreds of weekends on the sidelines, watching my soccer matches, as I was growing up. Dad always had a camera. |
Lineage
Acrylic on canvas. This was a present for Mom. A few years earlier I had done a black and white version with pencil. It represents the three main phenotypic and cultural groups of my background. Dad is white, mostly of anglo-American and Scottish heritage. His side is mostly from the northeast part of the country. Mom is mostly African American mixed with Cherokee, plus a little Irish and Cuban mixed in there somewhere. Its my understanding that the Cherokee portion migrated South, towards Louisiana, after the Trail of Tears forced them from currrent day Tennessee to current day Oklahoma. The African American portion had long been in the south from the slavery era. Mom is from New Orleans. How do? |
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Lineage
Pencil on paper. Done some time while in D.C. The first of a pair. I later made a color painting as a present for Mom. |
Piggy Back
Acrylic on canvas. 1999. One of the greatest things about parenthood is that it is just plain fun. My girls have helped me to reconnect with that carefree, spontaneous, playful, childish part of myself. The texture here is very random, very chaotic. I was hoping the texture would help to convey some of chaotic, spontaneous nature of childhood play. |
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