Let Color Finds Its Way
I invite you to engage with the work as you would a shared breath — an experience of quiet reflection, free from pretense. The canvas is a mirror, and every mark — whether brush, palette, or gesture — is my entrance into the unknown. I set intentions, but without expectation, allowing the painting to
unfold — so that, in that unfolding, my truth is revealed.
The Space Between Us
In the 1950s, my family gathered around the TV, witnessing the early stirrings of change. Then, into the 1960s, King’s dream, Selma’s brutality, and the Civil Rights Act’s promise. Meanwhile, my father, a soda man, and I crossed those literal tracks of segregation. I entered Black homes, seeing the humanity and strength inside.
Today, as a jazz musician, I play alongside incredible Black artists and people of color. Yet, as we face modern attempts — like ICE policies — to divide and rewind progress, my art insists on one thing: we share a common humanity that no line can erase.
Though society labels us with colors, I paint not as “white” nor do I paint “black” — I paint as a human being who sees the shared humanity beneath those labels.
Strange Fruit, and all my work, invites you to pause, reflect, and feel — not as categories, but as people, across generations. I create because truth must not be distorted or erased. This work is a call to keep our awareness sharp, to remember, and to push toward a more just future. Let this be one step in that direction.
Strange Fruit Series – Artist’s Statement
The Strange Fruit series is a deeply personal visual narrative inspired by the haunting song immortalized by Billie Holiday. Each painting in this series channels the emotional depth of jazz into a meditation on racial injustice, intertwining the legacy of that era’s music with the realities of historical and contemporary oppression.
This body of work emerged from my own sense of powerlessness in a world where inequality is stark and often ignored by those in privilege. Living amidst wealth and indifference, I’ve witnessed the silent struggles of marginalized individuals, from those in for-profit prisons to people on the streets and felt compelled to give voice to these realities.
As a jazz musician and artist, this series is my way of using art to awaken a few hearts and minds. It moves from the era of early slavery right into the present day, spanning centuries of struggle and resilience. My hope is that it reminds us that we are all one, and that through these paintings, the unheard voices can find a form of resonance and recognition.
