Rider-Pimped Rides, 2021, Photograph

Beautiful low rider customized cars with outfitted hydraulic systems and a lowered bodies can often be seen paraded in all their glory throughout Leimert Park and across the many communities of Los Angeles, creating pride and lots of smiles. Low rider car culture began in Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1940s and during the post-war prosperity of the 1950s among underserved communities of LA, to create strong cultural and political statements against the prevailing dominant White culture that persist today.

My Soul Dances, 2020, Pencils and Acrylic

My Soul Dances depicts an exuberant scene with silhouetted musicians playing various instruments in the background, while the soulful joy of the music is expressed with jubilance by three animated figures dancing atop piano keys. The figures appear to touch the stars.

This artwork seeks to capture the illustrious Black jazz, music, and dance cultural scene of Los Angeles, which has produced some of the greatest music legends of the last century. From the early 1900s to the 1950s, Central Avenue was the epicenter of the African American Los Angeles community music scene, especially jazz and rhythm & blues. Central Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare in the central portion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. My artwork seeks to showcase the joy and love of the music, arts, and dance histories in our community.