Latoya Lovely: It Is Our Time
On view: November 17th – December 16th, 2023
Opening Reception: November 17th, 5-8pm
Artist Talk: December 16th, 2023
Hours: Thursday – Saturday, noon-5pm
It is beautiful and humbling to speak through my paintbrush. It smears brilliant hues, leaving behind soothing warmth, and it tiptoes through pathways of intricate details with hand beaded pieces. I find joy in the tightness of controlled designs, and in the absolute freedom of big and bold shapes.
At one point early on in my career I was fatigued with boredom until I realized that I do not have to stay within “the box” or just on the canvas. So I began experimenting with mixed media, using fabric, synthetic hair, and other materials. I have hundreds of art thoughts flitting about and dancing through my mind daily, and I love the ability to be diverse in my work from representational to abstract. I need to keep it moving, keep it changing, starting somewhere different, making it up along the way. This keeps me feeling fresh and always looking forward to the next new thing.
Being able to see myself in my art as a Black woman is food to my soul, it is therapy. I especially want youth and individuals in my community to be fed in the same way. Through my art I am telling them how much I value them and how much about you myself. I am sharing with my son, the Black and Brown students that I teach, and my sisters and brothers of this community that we are wondrous, and that our faces will be seen, and our voices heard.
“Revolutionary” is the word that has made itself a mosaic in my life. Through my art I have learned to give only the parts of me that I choose to share, I have learned that my work is my form of activism. As artists we are always shouting to the world through our canvas, our photography, our dance, our song. Shouting to be heard, and when we finally see our beautiful brown faces illuminated from the TV screen, a billboard, behind a podium, and we hear our voices strong and rich, it is life-changing. It is powerful.
This project was funded in part by a grant from RACC.
