Shirley Guay

Hoodie, an Ancient Tradition (2013)
acrylic on canvas
18 x 24 in.

‘Hoodie’ is my first painting after extensive hospitalization; I painted it after surgery as homage to Travon Martin.

My attraction to bold colors is an unconscious choice that I believe to be a cultural connection between myself and people of color throughout the world. The images seem to emerge from my ancestral past which is West Africa. The work I create reflects my environment, then and now. My paintings are suggestive of the human form and how they relate in nature. I give the negative and positive space equal importance. The end result is usually a picture within a picture.