This year is about pushing myself creatively. I’ve always been drawn to art. I sketch in notebooks, shoot photos, and experiment with paint, but I never fully called myself an artist. The title felt like something you had to earn, and I wasn’t sure I had.

So when I submitted work to the Pretty Darn Small: A Tiny Art, Art Show at Hardy & Nance Studios, I was nervous because the pieces were both personal and political. I wondered how people would respond to artwork that addressed police brutality, gun violence, patriarchy, and sexuality. Would they get it? Would they feel uncomfortable? Or would they totally reject it?

But I knew that I had to just put the work out there and allow people to respond as they saw fit.

As I spoke with other artists, some showing work for the first time, others seasoned but still feeling vulnerable, I realized I wasn’t alone.

We were all putting pieces of ourselves on the wall and hoping someone would see us. That shared vulnerability created a sense of community. We encouraged each other, talked each other through our doubts, and celebrated every time someone made a sale.

One of the artists I met is turning 60 next month. She told me she’s participated in at least one exhibition every year since she was 23.

“That’s how I knew I was an artist,” she said. “I showed up.”

That message stuck with me. Because that night, I showed up too.

Cosplay As Protest

For my collection, I used familiar characters to challenge the way we think about identity, power, and resistance.

For those unfamiliar, cosplay is the practice of dressing up as characters from film, comic books, anime, or video games. In my work, cosplay becomes a tool for storytelling, transforming pop culture icons into symbols of justice, grief, pride, and revolution.

Exhibited Works:

Land of the Rising SAMO

Afro Samurai stands beneath a blazing red sun in this tribute to strength, survival, and self-definition. The piece plays on the word “samurai” while honoring Jean-Michel Basquiat’s SAMO legacy.

Bury Me

Killmonger’s final words echo through this piece and confront the systems that commodify Black bodies and silence Black voices. It is a reminder that even in death, we choose our own ending.

Climate Crisis

Poison Ivy leads the charge for environmental justice. Overlaid text reminds us: the climate crisis is not gender-neutral, and it is not colorblind.

BLM

Yami Yugi channels ancestral strength and righteous defiance in this tribute to Black Lives Matter, confronting systemic injustice with the energy of transformation, protection, and unapologetic demand for justice.

Death Note

A Black woman holds the infamous Death Note. Behind her, Japanese text reads: “Too many cops have killed too many Black people. When will it end?”

Trigger Warning

This piece addresses gun violence against women and femicide.

Lust = Death

Darth Talon confronts objectification head-on. Behind her, a remixed Bible verse exposes how patriarchy distorts desire and turns bodies into battlegrounds.

No Means No!

Catwoman unmasks the predator-prey fantasy.

Final Thoughts

I’m glad I pushed past my fear and submitted my work to the exhibition.

I feel more alive and creatively fulfilled than I have in years. There’s a real sense of accomplishment in finally honoring the part of myself I kept tucked away for too long.

At 55, I’m finally embracing what I’ve always been: an artist.

So whatever your passion is, whether it’s painting, writing, music, or something else, don’t let fear or age keep you from living your truth. The world needs your voice. Show up.

P.S. – All pieces are 4″x4″ original photography and digital collage, and each one is for sale for just $45. Each piece comes with a protective plexiglass frame.

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