Several influences shaped this artwork. Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel informed its emotional register, and the documentary Paris Is Burning deepened its cultural frame. I was thinking about Black men who do not conform to traditional masculine expectations and the socio‑political friction they often encounter, particularly within Black activist spaces, churches, and the broader community, where non‑gender‑conforming identities are still given limited room. I held all of this in mind, yet chose not to center the trauma. I aimed to celebrate them.
With that intention, I collaged the face of a Black man who appears at peace with himself and unapologetically content. The toothpaste brand name functions as an abstract symbol of joy and social‑political resistance: a radiant identity that refuses to be muted or ignored.
Artwork Title: Mighty Real No.2
Medium: Digital Collage
© Tamiko Greene. Artworks cannot be reproduced and distributed without permission.
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