About the Artist:

Latoya Lovely is a self-taught artist, dance instructor, and she works in Special Education for the Portland Public School District. Lovely has known since she was a child that she wanted to color for the rest of her life. She has painted several murals around Portland, including at the Shanghai Tunnel Bar, TreeHouse Collective, and Imago Theatre, among others. In addition, her work is part of the Portland State University Art Collection and the city's Portable Works Collection through RACC. Lovely creates art so that her son and her community can see their beautiful Brown faces and hear their rich, powerful voices in a world filled with images that reflect nothing of them.

"It is beautiful and humbling to speak through my paintbrush. As I smear brilliant hues and tiptoe through intricate pathways, I am telling my community how much I value them and how much I value myself. I am sharing with my son, the students of color that I teach, and my sisters and brothers of this community that we are wondrous and that our faces will be seen, and our voices heard. I am humbled to use my gift and to fulfill my purpose to beautify a community. As artists we are always shouting to the world through our canvas, our photography, our dance, our song. Shouting to be heard, and when we finally see our beautiful brown faces illuminated from the tv screen, a billboard, behind a podium, and we hear our voices strong and rich, it is life changing. It is powerful. As a Black woman I deal with colorism, a form of racism where those with lighter skin, and European features are given preference over those with darker skin. My art explodes triumphant from those societal chains."

- Latoya Lovely

WEBSITE: http://www.llovely.artspan.com

INSTAGRAM: @llovely01

Additional Work Examples: