>> I REALLY MAKE WORK BASED OFF OF WHAT I'M EXPERIENCING AND THE BOOKS THAT I READ.

SO THAT'S A BIG PART OF MY PROCESS.

GROWING UP, I ALWAYS WAS A DRAWER, IF YOU WILL.

MY FAVORITE PLACE TO DRAW WAS IN THE END TABLE DRAWER AND BEHIND THE COUCH.

MY MOTHER WASN'T A FAN OF THAT AT ALL, AND I SIGNED THEM.

THEY WERE ALL MASTERPIECES IN MY MIND.

SO IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SORT OF MY THING.

MOM RAN A CHURCH PROGRAM ACROSS THE STREET.

OHIO AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH AND WE HAVE AN ARTS SQUAD CALLED THE BEBE SQUAD AND THE WORK SHOPS BROUGHT IN LOCAL ARTISTS LIKE AMINAH ROBINSON, QUEEN BROOKS AND GRANDPA SMOKEY BROWN, SO ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE.

IT HAS VERY MUCH GIVEN ME FREEDOM BECAUSE IT IS VERY HARD TO SIT IN FRONT OF A STARK WHITE CANVAS AND FIGURE OUT WHERE TO MAKE YOUR FIRST MONTH.

SO WITH WABI SABI, NO MATTER WHERE I MADE MY MARK AS IMPERFECT AS IT COULD BE IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND IT FREED MY PRACTICE AND SO WHEN I MAKE MISTAKES THEY'RE HAPPY MISTAKES LIKE BOB ROSS.

IT IS AN AESTHETIC OF IMPERMANENCE AND THERE'S BEAUTY IN THAT AS IT CONTINUES, AS THOSE IMPERFECTIONS CONTINUE TO BUILD EVEN OR AGE THROUGH TIME.

THERE'S BEAUTY IN THOSE.

[ music ] >> A SEAT AT THE TABLE ACTUALLY STARTED OFF AS A DAILY SKETCH-- PRACTICE SKETCH, AND IT DEVELOPED INTO A SERIES.

IN EXPLORING BLACK LIFE OR EVEN THE HEALING COMPONENT OF IT, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE TO BEGIN TO HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS SO THAT NEW WORK CAN BE DONE, AND IN A LOT OF WAYS THERE HAVEN'T BEEN THOSE SEATS OR TABLE.

SO IN REGARD TO MY SEVERAL SEATS, I'LL BRING MY OWN SEATS, SEVERAL OF THEM, AS A MATTER OF FACT.

NO TWO PEOPLE'S SEAT IS ALIKE.

EVERYBODY BRINGS SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO THE TABLE SO IT WAS IMPORTANT TO MAKE EACH SEAT SEPARATE FROM EACH OTHER.

>> IN MY OPINION, BLACK ART OF THE PAST AS WE ARE MOVING INTO A NEWER GENERATION AND THAT'S WHAT I MEAN IN TERMS OF CAPTURING JOY AND HEALING AS OPPOSED TO JUST THE-- I GUESS, THERE IS DESPAIR WITH BLACK ART SPECIFICALLY REGARDING SLAVERY AND THE GREAT MIGRATION AND DISCRIMINATION AND ALL THOSE THINGS ARE STILL VERY MUCH IMPORTANT, BUT I DO BELIEVE THOSE STORIES HAVE BEEN TOLD AND THOSE AREN'T NECESSARILY THE STORIES THAT I CAN TELL.

I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE THINGS THAT ARE MORE PREVALENT TODAY FOR BLACK PEOPLE WHICH, AGAIN, ARE SIMILAR, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THE HEALING PROCESS LIKE WHERE WE HAVE COME FROM TO WHERE WE ARE NOW BECAUSE THERE IS GREATER WORK TO DO.

SO THE HEALING ASPECT OF BLACK LIFE, IT EXISTS, BUT I THINK, IN A LOT OF WAYS JUST NOT EXPLORED.

THERE IS A COMPONENT OF BLACK RESILIENCE, I THINK, THAT NEEDS TO BE CAPTURED IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

>> IT IS A FRENCH WORD THAT MEANS USING BASICALLY THINGS THAT ARE AT HAND.

THIS IS A BOX.

MY BELIEF IS THAT I AM EXPLORING BLACK RESILIENCE IN A WAY THAT WE ALWAYS HAD TO MAKE USE OF WHAT WE HAD.

USE WHAT YOU'VE GOT AND THAT IS VERY MUCH A BIG COMPONENT OF BLACK LIFE.

>> MOSTLY, IN GENERAL THE TIE THAT BINDS IS MOSTLY THE BROWN PAPER BAG.

SO A LOT OF TIMES I'LL START WITH JUST OPENING UP THE BROWN PAPER BAG AND ATTEMPT TO CONSIDER WHAT WAS IN THE BAG OR BECAUSE BROWN PAPER IS RECYCLED AND I TEND TO THINK OF THE RECYCLE AND WHO HAD THE BAG BEFORE ME AND WHO WAS IN THE BAG AND THAT'S A BIG PART OF WHAT SHOWS UP ON THE BROWN BAG.

IT GIVES ME DIFFERENT ASPECTS TO KIND OF BE CREATIVE WITH IN REGARDS WITH THE IMPERFECTIONS OF THE BAG.

SO IT BRINGS A LITTLE BIT MORE CHARACTER, I THINK, TO THE PIECE.

[ music ] [ music ] >> FROM THE BEGINNING I JUST THINK OF A STORY THAT I'M TRYING TO TELL.

THE PROJECT THAT I'M WORKING ON NOW IS-- HER NAME IS MOTHER DRUM.

I'M EXPLORING THE TROMBONE AND THE SEVEN SERMONS THAT HE BELIEVES THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAVE KIND OF THRIVED ON.

I GENERALLY START FROM SOMETHING THAT I'M READING OR A STORY I'M TRYING TO TELL AND I SIFT THROUGH MEDIA OR TEAR OUT FROM MAGAZINES AND CUT OUT.

A LOT OF TEXTURE IS WHAT I FIND MYSELF USING.

AROUND THE WAY USA VERY MUCH IS AN EXPLORATION OF COMMUNITY.

IT'S A TALE OF TWO CITIES.

ON ONE SIDE YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL, THRIVING, VIBRANT COMMUNITY AND ON THE OTHER SIDE IT'S DILAPIDATED AND I WAS EXPLORING COMMUNITY, IF THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COMMUNITY AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE IN A LOT OF CASES ESPECIALLY HERE IN COLUMBUS AS NEIGHBORHOODS ARE BEING GENTRIFIED, YOU LOSE THAT.

IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE THEY PRESERVE COMMUNITIES OR NEIGHBORHOODS THAT THEY DEEM, I GUESS, WORTH IT, IT SEEMS LIKE.

SO THE COMMUNITIES THAT GET WASHED OUT WE'LL NEVER REMEMBER THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE COMPLETELY GONE.

[ music ] [ music ] >> SO ROLLER SKATES IS A BIG PART OF MY PROCESS AND WHEN I'M STUCK OR CAN'T FIGURE OUT THINGS AND THE WORK AND IT'S THE 3D ELEMENTS AND HOW TO BUILD AND I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO ENGINEER THEM SO THEY DO NOT FALL APART.

A LOT OF THAT I DO ON MY SKATE.

I HAVE A STROBE LIGHT, I CLOSE MY DRAPES AND I TURN THE MUSIC ON AS LOUD AS I CAN AND I TWIRL AROUND HERE.

IT DOES HELP.

IT TAKES ME OUT OF MY MIND IN REGARD TO MY CREATIVITY IN JUST A MOMENT LONG ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE PIECES FIT TOGETHER.