Travis Johnson, acrylic painting series "Black Innocence"
Featuring:
The Raven Came To Visit acrylic on canvas 30x40
The Three At Mid-Night acrylic on canvas 30x40
Listening To Ships 40x30 acrylic on canvas
Tattoos of Ships 16x20 acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement
It took me a while to figure out why I was painting these little big-headed cartoon characters. I’ve been playing with this motif for a couple of years at least. But finally nailed it down to black innocence. With the help of a dear friend stopping by for a studio visit, the term emerged. I have three Nephews, 11, 7, and 3. I’ve come to realize that when I witness my nephews, I am witnessing black innocence, Something that historically has never really existed.
I have been in deep dialogue with Theaster Gates’s term Afro-mingei, as a methodology and of two aesthetic considerations.
I have also been exploring the aesthetic relationship with the work of Otani Workshop and Chinatsu Ban as a template of possibility. Leaning into the “cute” iconography and letting it sit on the canvas as a fantasy world for young black boys. The world that I am creating on the canvas is unhinged from the pre-projected narrative of violence and carnage. Black Innocence is for my nephews and the future.