My practice explores Black and Brown bodies as positive visual stimuli within public and studio based art. Rather than relying solely on skin color, I incorporate patterns, animal hides, and dynamic color palettes. I address themes of visibility and its duality to camouflage, code switching, self esteem, and the tension of being perceived. The work I have produced over the past year reflects my deep rooted resistance to becoming stagnant.

Over the past twenty years, I have lived on two different sides of Dallas, experiencing two distinct demographics. Desoto Tx, a place of familiarity and shared experiences—where many people looked like me—but a heightened concern for safety often overshadowed that sense of comfort. In contrast, Frisco Tx, was a town where few resembled me. There, I experienced rejection and discomfort, yet I felt safe as long as I made myself small.

This cultural contrast, despite the relatively short physical distance, deeply influenced me as a child and continues to shape me as an artist. My drive has always been stronger than my discomfort—the desire for community, balanced with the ability to still operate and dominate in spaces without it.

My public school experience in North Dallas was a highly formative moment in my life that led to me becoming an artist and focusing in on the current subject of my practice. My public school experience after moving to Frisco eventually led to homeschooling, largely due to the constant conversation being had with my parents in the principals office about my natural intimidation as a child after leaving South Dallas public schools. The district’s validation of invalidating my childhood was a recurring theme. My most memorable experience was receiving my first anonymous bully report when I was ten, filed by a classmates parent because I failed to laugh at a their joke. The report was deemed valid due to my intimidating height compared to my classmates at the time — I was in 5th grade. Experiencing multiple invalid occurrences like this at early age is difficult, I couldn’t express the damage it was causing as a child. I didn’t understand what about me was wrong so I believed everything was. I believed those who were paid to set an example. I hated school and I hated myself. I mentally struggled up to early high school which led to me being committed into an impatient program. I was this black hole, just weighed down by the thought of my existence. My mind became my enemy. These experiences taught me society will always find something that women of color could improve on, being held to a higher standard than our peers just to receive less. Expected to carry the weight of making everyone else feel comfortable even if we ourselves are not. Moments like these have influenced many aspects of my craft, even down to my artist name “Jay Tha Giant”. I was naturally seen as “too much.”

Artist Statement