bio. Kim Champion is a native Californian, born in the Bay Area. She is a graduate of Cal State East Bay University with Bachelor of Arts in Traditional Studio Art.
artist statement. I’m inspired by sources such as, nature, rural settings, and modern painters from Georgia O’keefe to Norman Lewis. I use color, shapes, shading and my imagination to visualize a story of how to bring these organic elements together. My method can be impulsive and tedious, but the quote by artist Jasper Johns sums up my feelings and informs my process.
“Sometimes I see it and then paint it. Other times I paint it then I see it’ – Jasper Johns
About: After a thirty year career as a graphic designer, photographer, videographer and business owner I’m now enjoying life in retirement by enjoying my first love, creating art. I work in several mediums including oil, watercolor, pastel and charcoal. My greatest artistic influence is Charles White, renowned African American artist and illustrator. Many of my paintings and illustrations reflect the importance and grandeur of historical African American music imagery.
Dear Mama, Our isolation strings us together like ropes that anchor ships to the shore. Holding tightly, but barely holding on as we slip in and out of fear and into hope for yesterday times. We move forward blindly, arms outstretched, Warning! Measuring! But yearning for closeness. The memory fading. Stories we will tell our young if we could only remember. This masquerade is now the only show and we are lost. There is no map through these vacant streets, abandoned buildings, and empty parks, Yet, we will bear down and push. The way we did before. Push through the pain and weeds surrounding our core and we will feel at peace. Again. ……………………….
BIOGRAPHY: TaSin Sabir uses her love of art to express topics that are important to her. TaSin graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA in Photography. An Oakland native, TaSin’s artwork has been exhibited all around the Bay Area and Nation. TaSin has published two photography books: Madagascar Made and 100 Families Oakland. Currently TaSin runs a Photography and Graphic Design business. tasinsabir.com
About: KaliMa Amilak is an Afro-Caribbean photographer, and multidisciplinary artist native from Brooklyn, New York. In their experience as a photographer, they have sold and exhibited artwork in various galleries in Brooklyn, and in the Bay Area such as SOMArts, The San Francisco Human Right Commission Center, and The Richmond Arts Center. They have also been published in online publications such as AFROPUNK, and recently will be having a billboard mounted in Brooklyn by SafeArtsSpace. Through their movement in art, they are devoted to self expression and celebration for black queer people sharing their life experiences as a means of healing through empowerment.
More info: The images submitted is from a recent series, “CHRYSALIS,” a poetic photography series that portrays the complexities of what it may be like to internally reset in order to grow while sheltering in place during a pandemic. This series is not for sale.
You can see more of my work and purchase my work on my website. You also can see current work or updates on my Instagram @kalimaamilak, or contact me at kalimaamilakphoto@gmail.com.
About: Abi Mustapha is a Sierra Leonean-American artist. Her work is primarily focused on large scale portraiture and illustration inspired by examining the beauty of cross cultural diversity. Her art examines the complexity of expression and identity through the creative process; drawing many small details on a large scale. Graphite, charcoal, and oil paint on paper, are her preferred mediums.
Abi has been showing work in the bay area since 2013. Her work has been exhibited in several galleries and museums in the Midwest and Bay Area including the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, The Richmond art center, and Joyce Gordon Gallery.
Born in Indiana she is also a graduate of Indiana University earning a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in sustainability. Outside of the studio Abi is an avid traveler and dog mom. She was the 2020 Santa Cruz Museum or Art and History artist in residence.
About: Akili Simba is a mixed media artist based in Oakland, California. His multi-disciplinary practice is resource recovery. Abandoned and recycled materials are utilized, renewing life to excess debris and advancing sustainability. Inspired by modern living and traditional African folklore, the created works reflect on cultural value and self worth to promote pride and unification.
About: As a mixed media artist I am fascinated and intrigued by the histories of artifacts and the emotional human qualities they posses. I accumulate found, recycled, repurposed, and well-worn forgotten objects. The clutter that has been tossed aside as useless or obsolete becomes the backbones and inspiration of my work. The main focus in my work is to imbue these rediscovered treasures with new re-imagined narratives that are humorous and poignant.
About: See in color–through a Yelloh Joy lens. Hang-out in this portfolio space. View never-released works by top west coast talent and curated pieces from our most popular stories.
Art Specs: 8″ x 10″ Giclee image. Archival paper 10″ x 12″ in size. Added with order, history card / caption information and matte board. Frame will not be included.
About: I am a professor of African American literature at Mills College and a lifelong artist and writer. In my work as a teacher and scholar of U.S. Black literature and literary history, I focus on bringing to light those Black lives and legacies that have been overlooked. These same interests inform my work as an artist. I am especially interested in the ways that telling stories of the celebrations, struggles, actions, and accomplishments of Black communities and individuals can transform how people of all ethnicities experience themselves and the world around them. My portraits are informed by the sights, sounds, and sensations that I’ve stored up over my years in Black artist, academic, and activist community. I embrace bright, audacious, and unexpected colors as a way to move beyond entrenched stereotypes and into a vision that reflects the wonderful complexity of Black lives–our history so deeply embedded in our present, our celebrations so often tempered by grief and, yes, the pleasure and risk we find in so many of the individuals, places, and activities that give us joy.
About: Mianta McKnight is a self-taught artist from San Francisco, who is spreading her wings and sharing the world through her lens. She finds art healing, and there are various forms of creative expression that she embodies. She creates visual pieces that are original work inspired by what she sees. The artwork has allowed Mianta to capture creativity visually and has been a new form of communication when words can’t quite express. She also has giclee canvas artwork, t-shirts, buttons, stickers, magnets, and mugs for sale. Her medium is a pencil, acrylic paint, and airbrush.
Creative expression is a part of who Mianta is. She also has experience in painting murals, and participated in the execution of the Bay Place WholeFoods mural in Oakland CA, and has worked closely with the Bay Area Mural Program (BAMP) also located in Oakland, CA. Mianta does commission artwork, logo design, and website designing. Mianta has been in the Art of Living Black Exhibition 2019, is participating in the 2020 Black Woman Is God Exhibition (BWIG), and has been a vendor at countless Bay Area event venues, such as the Art and Soul Festival, Fam Bam, Sip and Swirl, Black Vines Wine event, Lake Merritt, and the Black Joy Parade to name a few.
Mianta also is a professional dancer who finds freedom through movement and performs with the Daktari Dance Medicine Collective as well as has her own business as a dancer called Movement Mami. She is a choreographer and is trained in samba, belly dance, swing dancing, west African, Haitian, and HipHop genres. She also has a background in classical ballet, tap dance, and jazz. She has danced in parades Carnaval, SF Pride and performed at the Black Joy Parade, Oakland Dance Festival, The Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive (BAPFA) 50th Anniversary for the Association of Black Psychology (AbPsi) and has been dancing for 40 years.
