Work samples
About Ram
Baltimore City
My work with collage allows a wide use of materials, new and repurpased, to heighten form and language and reveal stories both familiar and new. The mixed media paintings, sculptures, and assemblages journey from a surreal perspective between material and myth, at points of transformation that draw inward to a narrative of hidden memories and dreams.
Jump to a project:
the painted boy
the painted boy series are a fantasy journey, an open narrative, a familiar dream that follows the painted boy. Worlds where elephants talk, flowers walk with you, and angels hold your hands and you remember you had wings. There is an air of whimsy in remembering, a softness that time allows, but there is also the hints of darkness, the sadness and hurts that are part of a journey and cannot be forgotten. But we move on, following the paths that are set before us...and as with my painting, it isn't about the journey itself but the things encountered and learned along the way...
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when peoples care for you...
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why be afraid?
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the beautiful boy in the garden
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there is nothing wrong with believing in dreamsClose your eyesâ?¦let your mind be stillâ?¦let your breaths be longerâ?¦ persuade your body to sway calypso as a flower dreamsâ?¦listenâ?¦ follow dancing stars down green roads, here ravens share a secret: even before gods & men, we will be togetherâ?¦my loveâ??s dark wing, my painted boy of joy and sorrow, yesterday and tomorrowâ?¦ love begins when sun-perfumed (he stirs) light wakes eyesâ?¦quiet as a soul, the child I was came to meâ?¦breathe, he said, just breatheâ?¦ like an autumn dreamâ??s burned reds and scattered gold fill the skyâ?¦ we count our blessings and say good byes, we give and receive love and let the violent bear it awayâ?¦let joy begin here anew.. Little Flower paint our hearts with your blessings , these paths of dandelions and rose, lullabies and stars with strings, a blue fairy for painted boys to hold your handâ?¦you are not alone open your eyes, see your breath, let your head bloom full with joyâ?¦ she whispers to meâ?¦there is nothing wrong with believing in dreamsâ?¦
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the yesterday tree
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home
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the paintd boy (brave)
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if I could become a bird...
when faces called flowers float out of the ground...
This series inspired by a poem I would later hear performed by a talented singer at a wonderful dinner party hosted by a great art patron and collector. When he showed me the poem, "when faces called flowers float out of the ground" I was so moved I immediately began this series of paintings, hearing words move soft pink skies, blue mountains and blossoming flowers, a hand softly glides across the landscape...what a joy when I heard the music and the synergy that had happened between the printed word, the colored words, and the spoken song...it came together beautifully...
when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having-
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
-it's april(yes,april;my darling)it's spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)
when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving-
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
-alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing, the mountains)
when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living-
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
-it's spring(all our night becomes day)o,it's spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)
when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having-
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
-it's april(yes,april;my darling)it's spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)
when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving-
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
-alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing, the mountains)
when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living-
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
-it's spring(all our night becomes day)o,it's spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)
august simple
Everyday we have a new face," says Clemente. "Everyday we are a new person."
A somnia homo flores...a series of collages using black male images and transforming them into new stories, new faces...This series was inspired by Joseph Beam's In the Life, an anthology of writing by gay black men. I used the series as a chapbook with writings inspired by the book.
A somnia homo flores...a series of collages using black male images and transforming them into new stories, new faces...This series was inspired by Joseph Beam's In the Life, an anthology of writing by gay black men. I used the series as a chapbook with writings inspired by the book.
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with my boys I am the sun
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everyday we have a new face
drink 2 dream
assemblages using collage and found objects to create 3D paintings and stories.
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