Welcome back! This week, we're uplifting the work of Black painters and illustrators inspired by their childhoods, families, and life itself to create some of the most visually stimulating art featured across the Internet. Read on to learn more about these fantastic storytellers.
Theresa Chromati
Image from Soundcloud
Introducing Theresa Chromati. In contrast to some of her early works, which depicted cohesively drawn full-figured subjects, Chromati's latest paintings feature deconstructed subjects that give the illusion of collage. According to the artist, "The body parts are detached and fragmented which plays into that. But they might only be fragmented for a moment, and in another moment they are complete." What has not changed is Chromati's muse, her sociological and artistic endeavor to understand when and where women are powerful. The fragmented subject of her paintings are designed in her own image. This subject is joined by an elusive figure who lives not just within the same canvas, but within the fragmented primary subject as well.
Image from Metal Magazine
Abelle Hayford
Image from LinkedIn
Next up, say hello to Abelle Hayford, an illustrator, character designer, and color stylist. Hayford's inspirations include televisions shows from their childhood like Xiaolin Showdown, The Proud Family, and Steven Universe. The colors represented in their work are informed through what they call a scientific and mathematical process – an equation that accounts for the relationships among several illustrated elements variables. Illustrating, however, provides Hayford room to be explicitly creative and design characters who are poised to have playful, adventurous, and determined attitudes.In addition to being a stellar artist, Abelle is also the creator of the hashtag #DrawingWhileBlack, which calls attention to the barriers to entry that exclude Black artists from opportunities in the animation industry.
Images from Abelle Hayford's website
Oyekale Oluwasegun
Image from Instagram
Last, but not least, meet Oyekale Oluwasegun. Oluwasegun's paintings take inspiration from the great existential questions: How should we think about our time here? Why are we here? Are life and existence synonymous? Working almost consistently with acrylic paint on canvas, Oluwasegun’s works represent a confluence of vibrant, harmonious patterns that serve the viewers a pleasurable journey through questions that might otherwise alienate them. Commonly, the painter designs subjects that have no eyes but are animated by the positioning of the brows, lips, and face. An appreciation for the natural world and great attention to the personal style of dress of his subjects also flow through his paintings.
Image from GoodBlackArt
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