Stono

60×80 inches
acrylic, spray paint on canvas
2022

The Stono Rebellion was a slave revolt that happened in Charleston, South Carolina in 1739 near the Stono River. It was important to me to reference this moment in U.S. history, not only because it helps to dispel the narrative that slaves were wholly complacent and docile with no ambition to fight for their own liberty, but also because of the fear ridden response of the South Carolina lawmakers, the Bill for better ordering and governing Negroes and other slaves in this province, in short, the Negro Act of 1740. As the first anti literacy law of the south, it not only deemed it illegal for blacks to learn to read and write, it also forbade us from growing our own food, earning and accumulating wealth, gathering in groups without the master present and moving abroad. Sadly, and most notably, it also established the legality of killing “rebellious” slaves if it was “necessary.” In my opinion, this is the root of Black America’s ongoing battle to establish generation wealth. How can a family pass down assets if they can’t at first possess them? “Stono” is a visual expression of the necessity of understanding our history and how, systematically, our past still affects our present. Aesthetically, there are two halves to the face of the depicted subject. The top, signified through distortion and painful, active brushstrokes, represents the past and our ancestors. At the bottom, the supplanted mouth, exaggerated in proportion, but realistically painted, represents the present and who we are now. Through the overall harmony of palette colors and the framing of the black void background, the juxtaposition of the two halves reads as one abstract face to represent the connection from our past to our current existence.