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Artist’s Statements:

KACHELLE KNOWLES:

My work contemplates the ever thinning line of casualness between death and life itself viewed by both black males and society.

Each piece is featured with a depiction of a rose – how roses are received is both loving and tragic.

On one hand, we cast a rose on the heads of men, ‘killing’ them off for their aggressions, and developing an image of them as soulless men, more comfortable with death than life. The skulls that are featured not only demonstrate this but seem to be a daily part of their image.

On the other hand, they are enveloped in flowers, shown the love and respect that is needed to value their lives as significant. Some reject this seemingly comfortable appearance and others are attached, paying tribute to those lost, and their remains are forever bonded to their person.

The intersection lies between the act of communicating the worth of these men and change that we must make to solve issues beyond violence, but with rehabilitation, both in mind and spirit.

The devaluation is, in essence, a strong effect whether it is from the black man himself or from those around him. The line between life and death is only as close as family relations. We are readily able to advocate the same method for them as they do for others: using the call of death to settle matters but only if they are strangers to us. We are no different from the men who wear skull pieces and wish to be saved with loving roses before their death.

GIO SWABY:

My work for ‘Intersect’ focuses largely on the interpersonal connections made by human beings through purely visual contact. It examines the intangible link or association between two people that is based on cultural values, social ideals, attraction, repulsion, physical placement, body language, a look or a gesture.

This body of work, largely composed of portraiture, explores how those connections are accepted or rejected and the emotional response of coming face to face with the image of a person, or a group of people, known or unknown to the viewer.

It also serves to examine the difference in the viewers’ reaction when observing one single image versus multiple images at once. A shift of control is intiated in each instance. For many, an intimacy is created when the focus is one on one contact. A certain level of ease is felt in their observation. Adversely, discomfort may be experienced when the viewer is faced with a number of portraits at once. In this case, the viewer becomes the observed.

For others, the emotions felt may be reversed in each situation or even completely unrelated. With every occurrence, the viewer is given the opportunity to rationalize their response, in turn, gaining more knowledge of it’s source.