What does ownership look like to you beyond the imagery you create?

Reanna’s Gaze, 2020

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Artist: Lanise Howard

Dimensions: 48" x 36 

This painting is part of a larger body of work exploring censorship and assimilation. Here I am exploring the historical censorship of blackness, specifically black hair. My aim was to give the subject back ownership of their image. In this way I am reifying the image. The pixels become a corona, a crown an ignited aura. Her gaze emphasizes this ownership and awareness of self.