Guardian Interview

“Guardian” Interview
1-26-2023

Assistant Editor at Up & Coming Weekly



David,
Here is my list of questions:
1. What made you want to enter for the exhibit Soul & Spirit: Celebrating Black Joy?
2. Tell me about the piece that was accepted?
3. How important is it to you to show Black Pride in your art?
4. What do you hope people will take away after leaving the exhibit?




Thank you for the opportunity.

1. The very title of “Soul and Spirit” resonated with me as an artist, exploring creativity on a daily basis. Often the process requires a connection between creativity and spirituality.

2. “Guardian”, my photograph accepted into the exhibition, was a soulful and spiritual journey into itself.


 “Guardian”


“On the left side of a strong woman, stands a strong man; he is strengthened by her character.”


~Ellen J. Barrier


Powerful, beautiful and compassionate, the models, Melanie Moore and Freyo Greene, portrayed all of these traits in the historic Graduate Providence Hotel of Providence, RI. Not so randomly during the shoot, the bartender from hotel pub walked by and I asked him to pose and this moment was created. The backstory is, shortly after this shoot, he was tragically lost from us but his spirit remains.


3. Showing Black Pride in this piece is very important to me. Art is supposed to be a mirror of the world, representation matters and Black pride builds communities. Our society needs to see more color and hopefully, in my own individual way, the vibrance and mystery in my photograph, “Guardian”, demonstrates that.


4. We humans are rather clever animals. We've managed to teach ourselves how to express ideas, as well as emotions through art.  It really is amazing to think about. Perhaps the takeaway from this exhibit (and most good art), will be to embrace the emotion felt by the exhibiting  artists that worked hard to encode through color, shadow and harmony to be decoded and experienced by the observers.  That is arguably one of humanity's greatest accomplishments and I am proud be to among such talent.