Artfully Acknowledged

As an artist, manga lover, and woman of color, Artfully-Acknowledged, is committed to creating works of art that, not only, highlight the issues that communities of color and women of color (especially black women) face, but also works to create solutions to these issues to create a future filled with understanding.  Her past works have primarily centered on creating stories that extrapolate on ideas of visibility and representation. Examples of her past work include a series of Personality Portraits and a non- linear children’s book detailing the natural hair experience in the USA, a country that upholds straight hair—a trait commonly ascribed to white men and women—as a standard of beauty. Along with continuing her Personality Portraits, portraits of her family members made using technique and color to convey their essences, Artfully Acknowledged is developing several stories that deal with the issues of race, gender and class. The first of which focuses on the issues of toxic masculinity and feeble femininity. When not hunched over her computer or tablet, or scribbling in her notebook, Artfully Acknowledged can be found dancing tango at Piel Canela studios with friends, creating bold lipsticks, or unwinding with a book.       

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Artist Ceramics

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The Fall 2017 semester was  the most productive semester of my college career. I was enrolled in a Ceramics class, Intro to 3D Animation, and I had the opportunity to intern with New York Based Artists: Steven and William Ladd. Overall, I had a wonderful semester, and I learned a number of new skills through my internship. I’ll post more in the upcoming days. :D

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I’m Back

Hello All, 

 I hope you’ve all had a wonderful break and are enjoying the New Year. I’ll be uploading my work from the past semester over the next couple of days. I hope to hear from you all soon. 

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Portrait of Artist’s Mother from Personality Portrait Series.

Hello All, 

Finals are beginning  this week, so I’ll be going to complete study mode. Hope all of you are doing well. Also, look forward to some upcoming post of my current works. 

Acrylic on Canvas

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Self Portrait from Personality Portrait Series.

 Guys!!! Finals are coming up soon. I’m doing the most finish my projects on time. This semester has been the best semester of my college career so far. So, it’s only fair that I finish it off with pride. 

What about you? Any finals coming up that got you stressing? let me know in the comments below.

Acrylic on Canvas

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Portrait of Aunt from Personality Portrait Series 

I am known  to work mostly in black and white. However,for this series,  I decided to challenge my self by working with color. I also decided that I would use techniques , such as pointillism, to convey ideas about a person’s personality.

What does this painting convey about this person? Let me know in the comments below. 

Acrylic on Canvas 

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Page from Black Hair, a non-linear narrative exploring the experience of having natural hair in the US– a place where the standard of beauty upholds straight an blonde hair. Check out the whole book here 

“How does one fix something that was never broken!” I ask my mother. She gives me the look that all mothers seem to develop somewhere along their child rearing days. her look tells me that I’m clever but that I can’t argue my way out of this inevitable hair styling. I gather up my brush, comb, and oil, and seat myself in front of my mother. She begins to section off parts of my hair. 

Let me know in the comments what was/is your response to people that tell you to go “fix your head”? 

Made in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop 

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Cover for Black Hair, a non-linear narrative exploring the experience of having natural hair in the US-- a place where the standard of beauty upholds straight an blonde hair. Check out the whole book here 

Readers are invited to chart their own course through this novel by responding to the situations that people with natural hair have gone through. Readers will also be promoted to declare what their hair means to them here. This book is meant to encourage those without natural hair to learn about the experience of another person, as well as give young men and women with natural hair a safe place, outside of the US Beauty Standard,  to define what their physical features mean to them.

Made using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop 

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Why It All Started...

I was a shy child when I was young. I rarely ever argued with people. I avoided confrontation, and did my best to stay out of the way. I made myself and my thoughts invisible to many. However, there was a moment where I decided that I was not required to stay silent for anyone. When I was in first grade or so, I drew a picture. It was a crudely drawn picture of a girl jumping in the air. She had skinny, out stretched, arms and legs. Her body was made of three rectangles each stacked atop the other, and her head, which was grossly over-sized for her shoddily constructed body, was green. She had no ears, and her facial features were probably the most visually appealing part of her. I dedicated one page of my composition notebook to her, and I was content with that. However, I was often questioned as to why she was the only figure on that page, or why her appearance was so “unique.” One of my teachers even insisted that I redo the drawing altogether.  With each comment made or questioned asked, I did not withdraw into myself as I would have during any other confrontation. Instead, I told a story as to why she was there.

“She is using her flying powers to save the world” I said once. “She’s getting sick from jumping up and down.” I told my sister. The story changed each time I was asked about her.  She did this and that; yet, she never left that page, and never did I feel so “visible”– so eager to share my thoughts–with others. It is for this feeling of visibility that I have decided to share my drawings and stories. As I grew up my love for drawing and storytelling grew as well. I am now an illustrator and a storyteller who is slowly making her work known digitally. In hopes of marrying these two skills together I am aiming to become an animator. Today, as a media maker, I am creating stories, images and eventually comic books that deal with representation and visibility among women of color and marginalized groups of people. My hope for the projects I make is to promote self-love, body positivity, and acceptance for the experiences that shape the lives of these people. I want these people to feel the same eagerness that I felt when sharing my stories as a child. As audio and video techniques are added to my skill set, I hope to make the experience of watching my stories more personal and relatable to viewers.