Prism

Prism encompasses abstract and figurative portrayals that synthesize different traditions and genres while playing with identity and social order. This painting is part of a current series that addresses white privilege in the context of social change, utilizing the colonizing imagery of vintage children's books as source material, which takes on new meaning through a contemporary context. 

In creating this work, I was thinking of how we perceive color, exploring the idea of refraction. Incorporated within the image and being the starting point of the rainbow colors is a vintage Band-aid container that references "flesh" color by writing, "blend in with your skin." The overall imagery is juxtaposed against the infamous photo of behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey with his arms in the air as he lay next to his patient with autism, whom he was trying to save from the police. Charles was shot in the leg despite his attempts to comply with police orders and explaining that he and his patient were unarmed and of no harm to the community. Through this juxtaposition, I'm exploring the ideas of perception, giving the view that there is a filter or prism of white privilege.