surfacing
Surfacing is a series where these memories from my past and how close I came to becoming another statistic are finding voice.
The first time I got pulled over in Denver, the officer told me I didn’t stop at the sign long enough. Every time after that it became more of an ordeal. It took at least an hour for them to run everything while I sat handcuffed in the back of a cop car. Often guns were drawn. One time, after I bought a pack of gum at a convenience store, I walked outside and had a gun at my head and cops yelling, “Freeze!” and accusing me of stealing.
During my early years of painting, I was constantly getting pulled over; it became the norm to the point where I was always looking in my rearview mirror, constantly looking behind me. Even while I was showing in galleries, I’d get pulled over. I’d have paintings in the back and there the cops were searching my car. No one ever asked my permission and they never put it back the way I had it. One time the cops searched my car and found a water gun and confiscated it. I don’t have those problems anymore, now that I’m older. There’s still racial tension, but I’m hopeful that there’s progress too. Surfacing is a series where these memories from my past and how close I came to becoming another statistic are finding voice.