I needed to create something I could take with me wherever I went..

It is hard to produce work in New York. You kind of have to center yourself - do some Zen meditation exercises and just focus. It is very distracting….

For a while, I was nervous about portraying women because of the objectification that automatically comes with it, whether the artist intends or not..

I started blogging because I didn't know if I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to talk to other people online who were doing art, so I would post wor….

Where some may see flat, static narratives, I see a spectrum of tonal gradations and realities. What I am creating is literally black portraiture wit….

For a while, I was nervous about portraying women because of the objectification that automatically comes with it, whether the artist intends or not.….

The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue..

I've always felt the portrait is an occasion for marks to happen. I've never viewed the portrait as about the sitter. Even when I go to the National ….

Kerry James Marshall especially was a huge influence on me in graduate school, as were Wangechi Mutu and Julie Mehretu. These artists are titans. My ….

I kept wanting to push my image as validity; I wanted to see my portrait on a wall and know it was okay..

Hank Willis Thomas is great. He's the one who "discovered" my work and saw something that I didn't see. He's still constantly pushing me to try out n….

Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness and your black presence..

I dont think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill..

I moved around a lot when I was a child; two of the houses I grew up in have totally disappeared. One was burnt in a riot, and the other was pulled d….