"Please Don't Stare at Me" by Tamara Davidson

Today I was greeted by this very beautiful poem in my inbox from a very talented poet by the name of Tamara Davidson. As mentioned in the email, Tamara was influenced by my recent "Nanny" series (check older blogs) that I painted a while ago. I am so HONORED when I can play a role for other artists to create. This in turn also inspires ME to keep creating. Thank you Tamara, much love & light.

Please Don’t Stare At Me

In these moments where our gaze meets the same point.

And the intimacies of our eyes mesh.

The fact of your Fathers does not hit the marrow,

or stir my spine.

An engulf of love

drenches these hands I use to hold you,

clutch the brim of a pastel baby stroller,

and read a letter from home.

You child love me,

in momentary lapse of blindness,

for nothing has been stolen from you.

Though I do not hate your Fathers.

They are mine too.

Philosophical incest,

gutted in uncured meat,

digested in hollow tongues.

If everything,

I hope my painted being,

will rapture the heart of your child souls.

So we are no longer devoured.

"Land" 11"x 14" Ink, Charcoal, acrylic paint on paper

A sneak peek into some of the new pieces I've been working on for my solo show next month.

Mannequin

Here's a better photo of the finished mannequin. Photo by Macho C.

Finished Mannequin

Here is the finished version of the mannequin I did for the "Bullets & Love" show at Fresthetic. I was a little Last Minute Larry with some of the details, which I never am, but I'm pretty happy with it, not totally happy, but happy.
Of course I didn't take a photo before, so this one is from the homie Tanya that shot it at the show, so you can't see the other side. It's titled "Aurelia Cuellar" after my Great Great Grandmother.

Bullets & Love: The Process...

Next month our homies over at Fresthetic will be putting on their 3rd annual "Bullets & Love" showcase with several visual artists who all get down on plastic mannequin busts. This is my third year doing this. I enjoy doing this project because it causes me to push myself and paint on a surface that I normally wouldn't. Well, here is the flyer, along with some photos of what I am working on right now. Last year I did the bust in dedication to my mother, so I thought I would keep the motion and make this year dedicated to my Great Grandmother and my other ancestors. Wish me luck.

New 1492 Painting

New painting from my 1492 "Elegy" series. Trying to save a lot of the new stuff for my March solo show in Brooklyn, but I'm sharing this one. Thank you to Kelly for being the influence for this piece. More to come.

First Stencils

So this is one of my first attempts at working with stencils. Not a huge fan of them but since the news of the earthquake that shook Haiti I started making these stencils for a quick poster to sell and raise funds. I have to say that it was pretty fun making it, a little like working out a puzzle. They're not perfect, or at least at that level that I would like them to be, but they serve the purpose for now.
The words "Sové Ayiti" in Creole translate to "Save Haiti" which was a show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe last Sunday. It was a DOPE fundraiser for the organization Doctors Without Borders located in Haiti. Not really the ideal spot to set up shop and sell (pretty small and packed) so I only ended up selling one. Oh well, there will be more events to send help to Haiti.