Rome via Brooklyn

What I love most about learning is when I find out more accurate depictions of myself through the work I witness. Knowledge to me is the narrowest path to self-discovery. When I was in highschool i was super inspired by Basquiat. I wanted to understand his mind because to me his mind seemed to beautifully express duality through his choice of abstract characterization. For example, there is so much range in this untitled (venus/the great circle) piece. I had a classmate who inspired me a lot because she was super into his art, and it always stood out to me. I made custom sneakers and clothing inspired by this neo-expressionist art. I’ll show you baby shamiqua 2018/2019 pieces and then some 2022/2023 pieces. I was so into Basquiat’s work, that a part of this painting used to be my profile picture.

To me, this painting signifies the life force energy of the muse. Venus has historically served as the ultimate emblem of beauty. The mini graphics of barbarism and monsters surrounding this dismantled figure signify how humanity is originally scattered at conception, how sometimes beautiful things give rise to ugliness equally, and how this juxtaposition keeps the world spinning. THIS IS THE GREAT CIRCLE (OF LOVE).

Baby Shamiqua piece

a little bit older shamiqua pieces

i think this art has always called out to me because it felt true to the vibrancy of my surroundings. true to the observation that there is authenticity and color in everyone and then there are bones and conditioning that shape how bones grow and becoming is keeping my heart open to the color and infusing color with structure and diligence.

here is a poem about the various stories we can tell/creative mission statement if and when we surrender to the muse

UNTITLED

There are parts of myself i forget are present in a new string of thought; the journal pressing its bind against my skull. “Write” it implies in the dangling string loose with purposelessness. Forgetting that the poems, each lyric, bungee jumping from spirit and muse with intent. Never expecting to stand in one pit long. Forgetting every chord is a shower of truth gliding against the ocean of my spirit. Every sunset nudging “love me, see me, for you i will shine” the mirror waiting for me to realize i am beauty, bright, and alive. I kept trimming my clothes, shedding the fat on my limbs, fasting from friends, fear, sin. Zipping my lips till i drool, dumbfounded by what i yearn to say but refuse to. “You are free” the cliff crumbles beneath me, the sky lifts me under my arms; the moon hollows tears of joy. I wake up, fallen from grace, risen in love. There is no where i cannot go to tell the story that needs the gritty shock of human touch i renounce. feet steady in sand, body meeting land anew, again and again and again. I mimic the sky singing freely the song it needs to sing to you.

shamiqua wilson

the philosophy of Andy Warhol:

became very popular in 2020 after Sophie Atkinsons’ article “Andy Warhol’s secrets for surviving isolation” what stands out to me in this article is “Finding out that it was the truly mundane details of life that he savored the most — tending to his zits, vacuuming while watching daytime television — set me straight. Warhol didn’t appear to think time could be wasted. Instead, he argues, it’s “the little times you don’t think are anything while they’re happening,” and not the parties or adventures or art projects, that are the most significant”. i imagine that many artists feel as though it is ineffective to create impactful art without detaching from society. i imagine many artists are loners for this reason–socializing is draining but fun, adventures are draining but fun, and art projects are draining but fun yet i’ve always valued the essence of boredom. how lighting struck inspiration anytime i lifted my hands to wash the dishes, how showers are so meditative that you forget its a chore on a bad day but a creative practice when nothing else works.

Andy Warhol and Basquiat (where pop meets expressionism )

Basquiat didn’t take the death of his close friend Andy Warhol well, and he was already struggling with addiction. The death only worsened things, leading him to die at only 28 years old from an accidental heroin and cocaine overdose. What many people don’t realize is that with his years of painting came the creative muse informing his paintings; he would tell stories through his paintings. Stories of Greek myths, power, and the dark shadow of destruction in opposition to light. Others believed in the idealization of these sudden and tragic deaths and coined them as the “27 club” where many prolific creators such as Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse all passed at this age. to me theres nothing fascinating about suffering outside of the fact that no one is alone in it and no one has been the first to experience it which ties back to the great circle which somehow reminds me of the function of the fibonacci spiral i spoke about in this post.

ciao,

shamiqua