Stop and Smell the Flowers, 2021 Digital Drawing Made with Adobe Ilustrator

Sometimes all the support we need is right in front of us. Stop and smell the flowers. Community has your back. There is power in diversity of thought.

*Artist retains copyright of the artwork.

In this new digital drawing series I also lean into English idioms related to the garden and explore its imagery. I chose to name all of the works in this series after such phrases in order to challenge our perception of what these phrases mean and to sweeten some of them up. The garden to me is a great place to explore as there is an abundance of possibilities. We reap what we sow. As people who navigate the world through the Black experience, we often notice the ways meaning and value is projected onto our bodies, whether good or bad. However, us activating our spirits and attempting freedom in our everyday actions can challenge the gaze and meaning exerted on us.