Work samples
About Amani
“I grew up in Columbia, Maryland, a predominantly white new-suburban town. Once I attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, for the first time, Black people made up most of my community. The drastic differences between these two experiences challenged my self-identity. At quick… more
Negroes in the Trees
“The Great Migration” was an era of mass exodus from racial terror in the predominantly rural South. To reference Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, Black people arrived to cities like Baltimore “...as refugees, exiles from lands in the South where they were being terrorized.” In Negroes in the Trees, the figures’ bodies and their surroundings hold generations of migration, memory, resilience, loss, and displacement; while also speaking to the healing power of connecting to nature. In urban areas that are systematically under-resourced, the people are barred from accessing high quality food, education, jobs, healthcare and health practices. My work speaks to the inherent power, beauty and culture that make up Baltimore, that lies within the fibers and roots of the city, its people and their history, as well as calling each of us to reconnect to the nature that surrounds us and create the resources we need from once that connection has been built.
My work exists because these people exist. As the artist, it is important for me to meet the people that make up Baltimore and listen to their stories. My paintings and the resources I garner as an artist work towards shifting the dominant narrative of Baltimore to hold the people and the complexity of our stories at the forefront. I share twenty to fifty percent of the proceeds when a piece is collected with the subject and my collaborators. It is my goal to reimagine the mechanisms used by the media, a tool run by people who do not care to know the depth of our stories, to deepen my subjects perspective of themselves, their power and our relationship to the city. Each piece in the series begins with a photograph of a person. I then distort and saturate their image, modeling an aesthetic akin to a topographical map or heat map. As the artist, I reclaim the power the media wields to tell our stories for us. I manipulate and complexify images of an environment and people whose stories are manipulated and simplified by those who wield economic power over the landscape of the city. By layering paint and textures on top of the prints, my works become complex sites layered with vibrancy, life, heat, energy, growth, healing, safety, magic, and music. The end goal of this series is to gain and slowly begin redistributing the resources needed to shift the landscape of power and view of the city that make up Baltimore.
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Black Sheep: DZHEEP (NITT edition)Black Sheep: DZHEEP (NITT edition), acrylic, pastel, glitter, textile and digital collage on canvas
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Murjoni (NITT edition)Murjoni (NITT edition), acrylic, oil pastel, glitter, and digital collage on canvas, 2019. 56in x 38in
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Que: B.MORE ALIEN (NITT edition)Que: B.MORE ALIEN (NITT edition), acrylic, oil pastel, glitter and digital collage on canvas, 2019. 60in x 40in
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Negores in the Trees #11Negores in the Trees #11, acrylic, oil pastel, glitter and digital collage on canvas, 2019. 60in x 40in
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Azarri (NITT edition)acrylic, pastel, glitter paper and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Negroes in the Trees #10acrylic, pastel, glitter, textile and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Salma (NITT edition)acrylic, pastel, glitter and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Negroes in the Trees #5 (a self portrait)acrylic, pastel, glitter, glass beads and collage on canvas, 2019.
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Negores in the Trees #3acrylic, pastel and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Negroes in the Trees #7acrylic, pastel, glitter and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
Building Relationships
As the viewer looks closer past the vibrant colors and chaotic contours, they may witness the substance that lies beneath the surface; perhaps realizing that we exist in a state of constant manipulation, controlled by those with the privilege to perpetuate inauthentic perceptions. I invite my audience to step out of this cycle to piece together the full story.
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Murjoni's Party: Amani and Malikacrylic and collage on canvas, 2019.
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DZheep: Black Sheepacrylic, glitter, embroidery, collage on canvas, 2019.
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Swamp Boy: Butch Dawsonacrylic, pastel, embroidery, paper and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Treehouseacrylic, pastel, and collage on canvas, 2019.
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Cabin in the Trenchesacrylic, pastel, glitter, embroidery, paper and digital collage on canvas, 2019.
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Cartier Dad: In the Studioacrylic, pastel, glitter and collage on canvas, 2019.
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Walk Down Tayyacrylic, spray paint, pastel and collage on canvas, 2018.
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Lewis_Amani_#9.jpgacrylic, pastel, graphite on canvas, 2018.