Why the scrolls and their implication

When I was at B.U. I was told to buy Chinese scrolls for an assignment that never happened. I kept much of the paper and materials from that time period over the years.  In the days building up to the Iraq War and shortly after President Bush declared a 'War on Terror" that could go on indefinitely I began writing and drawing on them. The notes initially began about specific troop movements and decisions of America's leaders in conducting the war. But as the assault on civil liberties and Fox News began being a propaganda wing of the military , my thoughts began to focus on the American culture and understanding the war in an historical context.

My drawings over time began to get more refined and I started to draw with a pen and ink  crosshatching technique similar to Charles White's style. Many of the images are head shot portraits of specific people and personalities. I've wanted to illustrate in the editorial section of the newspapers for years and I enjoy portraits. On the most recent scroll in one section I created my face in the style of Chuck Close's portraits and from each individual pixel is a flowing pipe that extends  to boxes throughout the scroll. Each box is a part of what makes me who I am beyond the myths, stereotypes and distortions that make up the black individual male. My experience with seeing Billy Jack at a drive in with my mother and siblings had a great impact on me as well as the Gong Show, Homie the Clown and KRS-1.  I was inspired by comic artist Robert Crumb and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. The concept of putting all of one's thoughts to paper.

Politically I'm sure I can be accused of being a leftist or socialist. I'm all about fairness and equality. Somehow that thought automatically gets you labeled. But I've never been willing to ignore or look the other way at liberal racism and elitism. Michael Vick gets two years in jail for killing dogs yet Sarah Palin is applauded for hunting coyotes from her helicopter. People walk their children on leashes and clean up their dog feces and almost treat them better that their fellow human. Hollywood being a prime example of the contradictions as well as many encounters I've had with racist liberal condescension. For me it doesn't matter if this country turns Socialist, communist or Muslim  etc, the elite that control corporations and propaganda will rule over everyone and try to destroy or appropriate social movements. I just aspire to be in good company with Thomas Paine and learn common sense.

Over the last year I've been encouraged to try sequential art and landscapes in my work. I've also been using stencils and fonts to make a bigger point and emphasis on certain ideas and situations that matter.   I decided to wait until Donald Rumsfeld's book Known And Unknown came out and then illustrate some of the battle situations and contradictions of  his new revised version of history. My reading has broadened into more in depth studying of American history and watching BBC news and any other news source except Fox. Of course the writings of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky aren't far from my thoughts. They no longer attempt to be unbiased and I consider them tabloid journalism like the National Enquirer. I've also been investigating the broader context of how the elite in our country profit from the war and what it's doing to the American psyche.

Recently I went to the Chinese Fresh ink exhibition at the M.F.A. I got to view contemporary Chinese artists put a modern spin on the tradition of the scroll.  It was a magnificent exhibit and I felt a sense of validation when I looked at a scroll with words and  American teenagers on it.

I'm getting increasingly aware of the implications regarding doing the scrolls. Considering it's a Chinese tradition and I'm a western black male it's going to be different. The scrolls force the viewer to go through the mind of an African American (but also an individual) over a considerably long period of time.   The phallic implications of length were made aware to me by my mentor and  something I hadn't considered.  I don't plan to use any other media and the scroll I'm currently using is good for another two years depending on the withdrawal.