About the Artist
seangarrison (he/him/his) is a native Detroiter raised in Minneapolis, MN. A proclaimed “renaissance man”, he is a writer and Abstract painter in which both disciplines cross-influence the other. A self-taught artist he feels that all artists should have a foundational understanding of art, but the soul is where art is conceived and this, he feels, precludes any academic knowledge.  He enjoys visual art in its entirety; however, abstract art's ability to elicit different responses to “what it is” intrigues him as no answer, in his opinion, is essentially wrong. In 2021 during the Chauvin trial verdict, he created the painting “Walking On Air” which gained local and national news coverage, He is currently an Artist in Residence with the Minnesota African-American Heritage Museum and Gallery. During this residency he will create a body of work called “Abstracproseality: Monochromatic Visual Notations of Blak Us in america”.

About the Artwork + Radical Rest
Walking on Air : "I feel that rest is vital in the struggle to impact change in our society and world. By its nature, the "machine" as I'll call it, commands us to work around the clock, wear our body, minds and spirits thin to literally work to impact someone else's bottom line with no regard for our health. Or "work" around the clock fighting injustice, because it works around the clock in an unrelenting manner. Thus, leaving us weary and listless along the way.

Rest revitalizes us intoto and gives us the strength to forge the fight. A majority of my work currently is focused on social justice and the ways this country has oppressed black people and other persons of color. As an abstract artist more often than not my process begins with getting myself in a particular emotional state. Quite often pain. I typically achieve this by watching the multitude of police shootings of black men in america. This guides my paintbrush because I then paint from the purest, rawest part of me. It hurts without question, but I know what comes of that space is beautiful. Rest is vital in this sense because I need that downtime to recalibrate my spirit after what I've put it through.

I chose this piece "Walking on Air" (created during and after the Chauvin verdict) because it spoke of the energy I felt from the people as I painted on the government grounds when the verdict came in. The blues within it serves as a space of solace I felt as the anxiety I carried prior was washed away. If only for that moment."

Website
www.seangarrisonartist.com