The selected works come from a collection of portraits of dark skinned people and abstracts using black and other dark colors. Most works are completed in oil on board. I prefer board to cotton canvas to render images with more vibrancy which is central to my work that is focused on the black experience in America. There is also a minimalist quality to the overall composition, a certain amount of visible strokes or outlines, as a statement of empowerment of the community I portray to take control of their own images and stories. A black man, rendered with a whole spectrum of warm browns and coppers and posed with tenderness and vulnerability. In a country that view black men as aggressive to the point of savagery I wanted to convey the sensitivity that we carry underneath. As black me we have to constantly reinvent ourselves to deconstruct the perception wrapped in lies and deceit.