One Year after my first protest painting, and a year after the murder of George Floyd, this piece was born. For me this painting has so much representation in it. I have tried to use my art to speak out against injustice, and fight for change. The inspiration for this piece titled, “Rise Up,” is everyone rising up to create change whether it’s the painter using art to raise awareness, the athlete kneeling for the national anthem, or the child demanding, “Black Lives Matter” through the sunroof at a socially-distanced protest. We can all rise up. When we choose to, things begin to change. In this painting I wanted to focus on a few key elements. The younger generation is spearheading this current movement of social justice. It has been inspiring to see how many children and young people have been at the forefront of this current ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. I wanted to symbolize and pay homage to that in this piece featuring a young child popping out the sunroof of a car chanting along with the protest as the centerpiece of this painting.

Even more than that, I wanted to symbolize the older generations looking up to youth as they speak out and demand change with the figure of the mother driving the car, who you just barely see looking up at her child. I also wanted to place an emphasis on the power of reflection. The issues we face today are the same issues that have plagued this world and this country in particular, for centuries, so it is important to be able to reflect on the past and learn from it as we move forward. Reflection is so important, whether it is reflecting on one’s own actions or reflecting on the hard work done by the generations before us that got us to this point. I wanted reflection to be a key piece of my painting, that’s why I included the reflection of the sky in the windshield of the car, the reflections of the boy in both the hood and roof of the car, and the buildings reflected on the hood of the car. The reflections help us look back on those who came before us, who fought these same battles that we now have a responsibility to continue.