Accidental Freedom

This series "Accidental Freedom" are works that came about because of the world I found myself in 2020.  This body of works are collages made up of pieces of paintings, found art and debris from the  process of painting itself.  These collages provided a kind of puzzle solving and a creation of a finished piece with the joining of the unexpected, the "not suppose to happen" or "not suppose to be there".  In retrospect I realized I was expressing the "not suppose to happen" and recording the history of this experience,

Frontline Histories

In this time of pandemic, we have seen what it means for people to rise in to roles of leadership.  

…Not the kind of leadership that is about supervision, or power, or even some idea of success. But rather, a form of leadership that is about taking on the responsibility to care for another person. The kind of leadership that centers the humanity that we all share, and that reveals the better angels of our nature.  

aria and canto - two installations

aria was sited in the Camp Gallery of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in Amherst, VA.
The gallery was originally a dairy barn built in the 1920's. During the 6 months of the installation's exhibit,  individuals and groups performed in the space including the Dance Theater of Lynchberg,  The Sweet Briar College choral arts group, poets and writers who were Fellows of the VCCA .
 
“aria” was a response to
     -large luna moths which floated through the barn at night
     -the air currents in the barn

Trifold Identities

This body of works represent an exploration into identity , architypes and how we are all connected to the universe and mirror its vastness in each of us. These constructed objects reveal the secrets of the one and the many, how many parts of the totality appear as the totality itself. 

Crystalized Moments

     This avenue of research observes time as both tactile and conceptual. These constructions try to capture the momentary and fleeting moments that stream passed us. The painted construction illustrates the moment and there by assigns the moment an identity. Shadows, scars and foot prints are examples and indicators of its passing. This project goes a little deeper and a lot more abstract as these works explore in a non-linear means how time can be broken into individual parts or "moments".

Madonnari Mural

Madonnari Mural located in Little Italy, Baltimore. In 2014, Michael Kirby started the first Madonnari Chalk Art Festival in Baltimore, it has become one of the largest art festivals in Maryland. He lead over 50 artists in creating chalk drawings over 3 days in Little Italy every year. In 2020, Mr. Kirby created a mural dedicated to Motherhood that is located on the exterior of the Madonnari Gallery. The Mural depicts images that Mr. Kirby used to win competitions in Italy to win the title of Master Madonnaro.

Odes to Aaron Douglas

As a nod to the African American-Modernist works by artist Aaron Douglas, these pieces investigate the nuances of the human experience that are introduced by factors such as race, class, or gender.  Unlike Douglas' works, the figure is absent from these paintings to connote the various layers of the human psyche that are impacted by the nuances the aforementioned factors introduce to it.

Design for Distancing Curbside Commons

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Curbside Commons Design for Distancing project converted a parking lane into public space for safe, physically distanced community gathering, shopping, services, and culinary encounters along Hamilton-Lauraville’s main street, Harford Road. Led by Graham Projects, the design-build team included Property Consulting, Inc., LANNINGSMITH, and Annie Howe Paper Cuts.

Subscribe to Contemporary