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There are no rules to art,

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and there are no rules to self-expression,

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and when it comes to something
like what we were doing with the rules

4
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were make something impactful.

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I'm a Seattle based artist.

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I've been here for about 15 years

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working in mixed media.

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When I say mixed media I really mean
like everything from digital to analog.

9
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Sometimes I'll create a digital piece
print it out, rework it again,

10
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and then do a lot of analog stuff to it.

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I'm from the South, was born
and raised in North Carolina.

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Just was always in the everything.

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Got my first camera and was 13.

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If I had any money
had always been art supplies.

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It was always like art, art, art.

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When I saw Cy Twombly's
work for the very first time,

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it reminded me of

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being a child
and I just locked in to that,

19
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and it's always been a part of me.

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Like, there's always the child inside

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that's just experimenting and trying,
whatever.

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When I discovered Basquiat that was,
like, earth-shattering.

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That was really instructional.

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So, what we

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have here is a number of items
from my grandfather's archive.

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Most importantly, documenting 
his history with the U.S. Marines.

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He was one of the first black Marines,
and I can only imagine

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what that would be like to be the first

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to be admitted into the Marine Corps.

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That's my grandfather there.

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That's my daughter.

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It's just a reflection of my practice
of drawing

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strength, and drawing
inspiration from my ancestors.

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You know, a few years ago,
I was very sick. I was hospitalized,

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and my family was what really
powered me through.

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They've been hugely instrumental
and influential

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on my work.

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So, after I got out of the hospital
as part of my recovery,

39
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really took to drawing a lot,
and through that sort of healing process,

40
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I developed a style of continuous

41
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line and movement that really started
kind of mapping my mind,

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and mapping my brain,
and like my emotions and feelings.

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I work in abstraction
because it's intuitive, and it's coming

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directly from me.

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Everyone enters it
from their point of view because it's

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abstract,
and then they bring their culture to it.

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Part of my artist

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statement is all about how I've turned
to the diasporas of the world.

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When I felt like white
culture was done with me.

50
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A big life
changing event was the Black Lives Matter

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mural that we painted in protest
during the CHOP.

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That changed everything.

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It was a lot of strangers
who came together to make a statement.

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Everyone had their letter
and did their own design.

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There was no like,
Oh, it's going to be like this or that.

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None of that.

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It was straight up
like black and indigenous people

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let's go.

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Black Lives Matter is just another iteration

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of black folks
standing up for their rights.

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It's part of the whole history of us
trying to get acknowledgment,

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trying to get not even acceptance,
just acknowledgment that we're people,

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we're no longer chattel.

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We weren't in the first place.

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I always say
perfection is in the practice.

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That's what I'm most proud of,
is that I am a practicing artist.

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It flows into me and out of me.

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I follow my intuition.

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I honor my ancestors,

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and I feel that's the accomplishment.