About “The night before.”

The night before acrylic, house paint on canvas. 60 x 48 in. 2020

This piece is a continuation of what I consider my current body of work. This body of work is my recollection of my mother’s adolescence. This is a scene of three female figures enjoying the pool. Although this image is recreated from a photograph, I reworked the composition to allow for the water to almost include the viewer in it.

Thoughts about what water and pools and hotels/motels mean for black people started to swirl in my head as I painted this piece. As I wanted to capture the excitement that is had before an assumingely fun-filled day, but now I feel that something more lurks beneath the surface.

The night before acrylic, house paint on canvas. 60 x 48 in. 2020

There is a violence black people have continually faced when enjoying a public pool, both in 1964 and even more recently, in Texas, in 2015. The ongoing stereotype that black people can’t swim, which I think can be noted to the fact that we didn’t have free access to pools for a long time.

And I mean, sometimes more simply, getting your hair wet isn’t the smartest idea right before the family reunion.

With illustrative lines, the rendering of the figures is playful and expressive in its execution. The leg crossed at the knee carries the attitude that the face would usually offer. With heads removed, we can only wonder what grown women can openly talk about when a young girl is present. Current dramas and simple nothings are imagined while the water ripples softly in the pool.

The night before acrylic, house paint on canvas. 60 x 48 in. 2020

In capturing the giddy happiness a girl child has when being allowed to sit with the women, this piece has weight attached to it that cannot be erased.