Hello, My name is....

I am the woman with the black black skin
I am the laughing woman with the black black face
I am living in the cellars and in every crowded place
I am toiling just to eat
 In the cold and in the heat
And I laugh
I am the laughing woman who’s forgotten how to weep
I am the laughing woman who’s afraid to go to sleep
   Angelina Weld Grimké
Fragment


A born fighter, that's how I view myself. Everything I have in life today was fought for. Let me elaborate. My parents lived in the Republic of Liberia, on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa, in Monrovia. My mother was pregnant with me in the midst of the civil war that was going between 1989 to 1997. My parents had to abandon their home and their lives in order to keep their two daughters and their unborn child safe, so they traveled to Cote d'Ivoire with other fleeing Liberians. Their journey was full of close calls. They had close encounters with soldiers and were forced to eat anything they came in contact with in order not to starve. My mother almost lost me on this journey. But we survived and made it safely to Cote d’Ivoire where I was born and almost died due to severe illness, I don't recall what exactly.

In pursuit of a better life, we moved to Ghana, but Ghana didn't provide the opportunities my parents sought. The goal was to one day move to America, the land of opportunity. Now that we have arrived and I am about to complete my senior year and I have discovered my love for arts. Like many of you have. I want to pursue my dreams of getting my masters in fine arts and one day become an art director.
I would love to sit here and tell you all about myself. But the truth is I don’t know much about me. My story is not different from many refugees. My beginning seems insignificant to many others, and frankly, I don't know what the future entails. But then again who does. All I can tell you all is insignificant facts about myself, like my love for the rain or dislike for Sour Patch kids. You will learn more about who I am from the poem above way more then you will ever gather from the selective detail about my origin. I often feel like a Woman described above. I am living in the cellars and in every crowded place.
I am Kimmah Dennis, Hello.

one of my work.. oil on canvas 

other painting of mine... oil on , mirror 

Introduction

Introduction

Bruno Xavier

01/29/20

Hello, everyone, my name is Bruno Xavier. I'm currently a junior at Rutgers Newark and I'm majoring in Graphic Design with a possible minor in art history. I've lived my whole life in Newark and have loved every second of it. The reason I want to become a Graphic Designer is because of my mother. She supports me in everything I do and makes sure that I follow my dreams. I couldn't ask for a better mother than her because she is willing to sacrifice everything for her kids.

She was the reason I fell in love with Video Games. She handed me my first Nintendo 64 controller and my first taste for video games was on that day. I still remember the first game I played the game "GoldenEye 007" and I had no idea what I was playing. All I knew was I was in love with video games at that moment. I love everything that goes into making video games so that why I watch lots of documentaries of games. It teaches me all the hardships that developers face while making the game and how they overcome them. By learning all these hardships it makes me want to start making my own video games but I need to learn the basic so that I can learn how to sell my fantasy.

Growing up, it was hard because my mom was a single mother trying to support her children and me, unfortunately, didn't have friends growing up. The only person that was my best friend was my mom which wasn't all bad because we played video games together. But this led me to be shy towards new people and I was it hard having no kids your own to play with. Then I met 2 people that today I'm proud to call my brothers and they saved my life. If it wasn't for them I would have gone a dark path and it would have hurt my mom which something I never want to do.

       

Intro

Elida Abreu
1/29/2020 

Hey, my name is Ely and I am an alien artist from Newark, New Jersey. I'm 22 years old and my time on earth has turned me into a reflective conscious being. I've been through my fair share of cruel hardships but for some reason, education and a well-developed passion for creative expression has aided me on this raw journey called life. Fortunately, right now I am on a positively linear path but I have previously lived an aimless and purposeless existence before I got to this point. It used to haunt me too afterward but I learned how to use it in my favor to push myself forward harder. I am very straight forward and mistakenly take most things to face value but at the same time, I find humor in almost everything. I enjoy staying to myself and would rather avoid group work but if required I will willingly participate. 

I believe it's important to value every second of the time that you have on earth because death is the only guarantee we have, I plan to use my time wisely until my last breath. At the same time, I have feelings of insignificance within the grand scheme of things after spending hours self-educating myself on my secondary favorite studious subject, Astrology. I felt very micro in a macro-sized world after visualizing what a human looks like compared to a black hole. But then I realize, isn't life just a series of images that change as they repeat themselves? I have always had the power to uncontrollably alter these images through my perceptions, actions, and subliminal influences since I was gained emotional and spiritual awareness. My immediate family was my first obstacle but due to how early my trauma began they ultimately taught me strength. I was my next challenger and I also needed to repair myself after everything I'd been through as a child and teen however after I realized that adapting, changing, and healing is a part of life I became comfortable in being patient with myself within this reality.

I recently have formed this attitude that fluctuates to try my best to help my community and give back now when I can and I'm young. I have always strongly valued a hard work ethic because of how I was raised and similarly, I think that having an open mindset to many possibilities and outcomes is vital due to the lack of that quality in any adult figure that raised me as a child. I feel as though my spirit moves as one with every other soul residing on this planet when I am in public and imagine myself in the universal macro level. Frequencies are real and work around me in mysterious ways all the time, they pull and push me towards new choices or final decisions. I wholeheartedly accept anything life throws at me in cases that I cannot control because I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I go with the flow or I am the wave.

My Artwork, Titled "Initials"

Philosophy I live by:

Me Chillen With Death In My Prime

Introduction

Growing up as a kid interested in the arts, the curriculum I was taught with in school was mostly skewed towards Western education and it’s histories. Hence, I was conditioned to think through a single foreign lens with regards to my academic and creative explorations. I looked up to Western Art forms and traditions as the sole epitome of Art of making. Consequently, I sought out romanticized dreams, goals, ideas, materials, tools and skills alien to me as the only way I could create Art or live my life in general. And that if I couldn’t produce work in the context of “Old Masters” I wasn’t creating Art. I, unfortunately, ignored the abundant inspiration and resources within my own sounding and culture, seeing them as secondary to the other.

 In hindsight, I hold a different view, and so through my practice and everyday activities, I try to reflect and question the frame of references I was conditioned to believe in as a kid. I now adopt alternative approaches other than the norm in almost everything I do. This affords me the creative freedom I didn’t enjoy/allow myself growing up.

My name is Emmanuel Amoakohene, a senior currently pursuing a BFA in painting and there are many layers to my being. Thus, I am a man, a son, a brother, a friend, a Ghanaian, a student, Christian and an immigrant currently living in a cosmopolitan space. Yes, I am black. I embrace all the layers and complexities within my everyday life experience as an identity, uniquely and inherently mine. Hence, I harness them both consciously and unconsciously through a multiplex approach to fuel my practice as an artist and decisions i make in my life. I believe this is the most sincere way of telling my own truth.

Introduction

Hello All,

My name is Ayana. I am still fairly new to Rutgers university, as this is my second semester here. I am a junior. I am a graphic design major/ art history major. On the inside, I am a colorful and creative spirit. I get my energy from colors. My family and friends would describe as being funny and sweet and a bit shy. I am a proud introvert. I get my best energy from close friends and family members. On the outside I am very colorful, from my wardrobe to my room to my school supplies, everything about me is fun and bright. I am a big vintage collector of toys (especially Barbies) and clothes.

All of my hobbies have a common ground: creating. From drawing to sculpting to sewing to painting, I am very hands on. For the past few years I've been seriously committed to fashion and costume design, specifically dress design. I've been sewing since I was about 7, when I got my first kid friendly singer sewing machine. My imagination has always been one of my favorite aspects of myself. As many of you here in the arts culture and media majors can relate, imagination is really a powerful tool. It has helped us our entire lives and shaped us into who we are today.

My identity on a macro and micro level coincide with each other. On the macro level, I belong to many different groups; African American, female, daughter, sister, Generation Z, inner-city student, Newark resident, college student, retail employee, etc. Although that does not necessarily say exactly who I am, it has affected in many ways as I have navigated about in the world. On the micro level, I am a lover of all things magical and otherworldly. Fairytales and storytelling have impacted my life in such a wonderful way that it has led to me to discover my best traits.

Introduction

     Hey everybody, my name is Edwin Duodu. I am currently a Junior here at Rutgers and majoring in Journalism, with a minor in Video Production. I was born in Newark but was raised in East Orange. I am from Ghana and I grew up with two older siblings. Coming into Rutgers, I was unsure of what I wanted to do in terms of my career. However, I soon realized that my passion for sports was a big part of who I am.
     The key details that I take from my passion of sports is to be hardworking and stay determined. Being an African American, that title only makes the journey more difficult. Also, being from East Orange, it's not too often that a person comes out of the city with that type of career. This is why having a hardworking mindset is crucial to my success in the future. As I continue in my journey, I continue to gain confidence as well.
     Other than my career aspirations, my identity consists of my culture. With me being Ghanaian, music and food play a big role into how I live life. My religion helps me to carry and uphold a certain image everyday. What that image consists of is taking every opportunity possible to succeed and learn. It also means having a support group where we all can help and benefit off of each other to propel ourselves forward in the future.

   

Introduction

Hello! My name is Rachel Lantigua and I am 20 years old. I was born in the U.S here in Jersey with both my parents coming here from the Dominican Republic. Throughout my life I was always interested in the arts, more specifically character design, illustration, animation, and now recently typography. So with that in mind I decided to Double Major in Graphic Design and Fine Arts. Sadly due to me starting my program late I'll be graduating in May 2022. Hopefully when that time come's I'll be able to work for a company within the Animation or Game Development industry.

When growing up i've always been a quiet child, always observing my surrounds and people in order to get a better understand on how to respond to others in society. I barely tired holding conversations to others and put most of my time and effort coloring, drawing, playing games, and etc. On the surface level many people view me as an extremely sweet person and observant, often associating me to being the smart student/nerd in the classroom. While on the micro level my personality reflects the saying "actions speak louder than words". On how I'll always keep true to what I said to the best of my abilities.

When growing up I've faced many difficulties like many other people. I thought I'll be the type to never really change dramatically if someone entered or left my life. However as I got older and saw that some people are more likely to be snakes than humans interacted with me, I learned to distant myself from them in order for me to learn to respect and love myself.

Two drawings I did this month