Untitled, Acrylic on canvas. 30 x 40" $36,000

This piece begins a series of works based on photos I take around my town in East Mississippi. I describe the set of paintings I will complete as celebrating black joy in the South. The rising trend of western culture, line dancing, and cowboy boots is due in part to music and the desire for simpler lives. Black folks in Mississippi have been on the wave of small town affordability, downhome hospitality, and of course our cowboy boots long before Beyonce belted out "This ain't Texas, ain't no hold 'em." This series captures a seemingly foreign way of life for the black Americans below the Mason Dixon line, and presents some of the oddities you may see as you travel through a Mississippi small town like mine.