2022  •  12 x 15"  Show size

Non-recyclable trash and repurposed materials on canvas

This assemblage of Mondaire Jones is one of the first two openly gay Black members of the U.S. Congress elected in 2020. His impact is indelible despite losing his seat due to redistricting in 2022. In American history, enslaved people were seen only as commodities. They were bought, sold, and exploited. They could be tossed aside as quickly as garbage. African-American gay men have been attacked, brutalized, and even murdered both in large coastal cities and in rural areas. I made this portrait of Mondaire out of debris to celebrate the elevation of African-American Gay men to the status of U.S. Representative. When people see themselves reflected in books, the media, and the government, it opens up possibilities they may have never known were possible. It inspires a new generation of thought leaders.