You never know what you're going to get when you walk into a Fantasy In Color event. I have experienced walking into a dance party, an art studio with live painting, and this time around, I walked into an art mall.
Navigating through the brownstone gallery, you encounter a variety of artists, styles and prices.
It is the responsibility of the artist to ensure that the canvas conjures some sort of emotion within the viewer. Artists Ivette, Kadeem and Julius met their responsibilities leaving onlookers with warm hearts, hopeful grins and open minds.
Ivette displayed a collection of pet paintings entitled, "Amber Sightings." She captured everyday moments that doggie parents would appreciate. Using reference pictures and fantasy the viewer is given a glimpse of personality in a pet they met in a painting.
In a series entitled, "Lil Black Boy" Kadeem dives deep into significant moments of life. Taking us through a journey of memorable moments, we are reminded through milestones that we have achieved and we will achieve no matter the circumstances.
Art has a way of not only invoking emotions or inspiring viewers, art also has the ability to inform the ignorant. Using his signature heavy drops of paint and iconic characters, Julius' work displayed the corruption of power and those who willingly conform to that corruption through fear, hate and arrogance.
Carlita is a photographer who manipulates photos adding a color pop to cultural images. Her use of vibrant colors and patterns provides the viewer with a fresh approach on the designs of symbols from a New York City Dominican.
Nicole's surrealistic paintings bring you to a place outside of this planet, maybe even outside of this universe. By fusing moments of humanity with the vastness of the galaxy, Nicole's art invites discussion about life death and everything in between.
Tommy The Animator, brings his creations to our dimension plain with 3D printed sculptures. Tommy's art comments on society in a way that almost seems like an artistic dimensional rift. Ultimately Tommy's art parallels culture through futuristic art practices and compositions
You could feel the New York City vibes exuding from Ash's art—the Yankee cap, graffiti and NYC slang. Words native to New Yorkers, like, 'nah', 'son', and 'peace', painted in bubble letters, filled her canvases. Ash is also featured in the 3rd episode of Fantasy In Color's podcast where you can hear much more about her art.
Two Goobs is an artistic duo: Adan and Emily; Mr. and Ms. Two Goobs who shared individual work as well as work that fused both of their art styles on a single canvas. Check out their podcast series where they explore topics like "what is too honest?" and "finding motivation" on their website.
At the end of the brownstone sat a body cast covered in flowers and rhinestones— an artistic boozem as artist Ana Melissa calls it. These artistic boozems were born out of a breast cancer scare; the fear of losing her breasts inspired her to make a cast out of them. Ana continues to share this art form and empower women.
SFM
This time around at FIC, for me, was a different experience. I had the opportunity to not only displaying some of my art, but I was also able to table and sell prints, mini-canvases and art wearables.
Featured on the wall was my ColorToons collection (starting at the top, let to right: Squirtle, Felix, Mickey, Rocky, and Patrick.) Media consumption is something some people begin to experience as children. Sitting in front of the television and spending many early Saturday mornings watching our favorite cartoons, we feel a connection to certain toons.
EmojiSteve is a collection of art that incorporates emojis. Emojis have become a part of our everyday communication with our friends, family, and others. What I like about these the most is that people resonate with certain expressions and feel moved to add it to their personal art collection.
One of the unexpected highlights of the night was when Ice T and Coco walked in. Slowly, heads began turning and whispers began being exchanged. I had the pleasure of meeting Ice T and sharing some insight behind my art and capture this moment in a black and white photo.
