LEARNING TO LOVE
Narrative Portraits
The Narrative Portraits series elevates the visibility of Black Queer and SGL artists across various disciplines by featuring the work of emerging contemporary artists rendered through a digital lens which explore same gender loving narratives of self-acceptance as a rite of passage towards learning to love ourselves and each other.
DaQuane Cherry (He/Him)
DaQuane Cherry is a self-taught artist who uses an array of mediums with a focus on his narrative as a storyteller through fantasy juxtaposed with portraits and mix medium. Cherry utilizes the imagery of the beloved Teddy Bear to evoke childlike playfulness, innocence and, love within each of his paintings.
Born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Cherry experienced a history of trauma and family challenges. He expresses his POV through triumph, therapy, and emotional movement. His work creates space for wonderful memories that were born through challenges and unsure circumstances.
He references the teddy bear as an escape for everyone to their inner childhood and fantasizing the ways of imagination and innovation in which a child does effortlessly. The colors represent the foundation of art as they are the primary colors and without, would leave the world black and white. The idea is for the audience to envision a life where reality blends with imagination.
What inspires you to make art?
It’s the gateway to unwind my mental health. When I can’t process my feelings, I create.
How do you want your art to inspire others?
I want my work to spark your inner child; to be creative; to imagine. Like I always say, Steve Jobs once imagined a touchscreen phone that could FaceTime. Airplanes were once imagined… here we are. Let’s imagine.
Does art play a role in learning to love yourself as a Black Queer person?
Yes, with all my work I make sure when I post it to the world that I’m standing right in front of i, expressing my true Queer self. I want the audience to know that the man behind the art is what the art truly embodies.
Kendrick Daye (He/Him/His)
Kendrick Daye is a collage artist and art director who lives and works in Harlem, NYC. In his decade-spanning practice, Kendrick has created work in a bevy of mediums that imagines a future where Black queer life is prosperous and thriving.
Kendrick's work has been show in exhibitions in Atlanta, Austin, Miami, NYC and Oakland. Two of his original collages are currently on display at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, as apart of the ART IN EMBASSIES program. Kendrick is also the creator behind the BLACK QUEER TAROT, which takes the traditional 78-card Tarot arcana and remakes them with a diverse cast of muses.
What inspires you to make art?
I'm inspired by a lot of things — music, the poetic way people say things, colors, fashion, beauty, horror. But I think what inspires me to make art is this innate desire to be heard and understood.
How do you want your art to inspire others?
I make art for myself. But my intended audience is Black Queer people. I hope they feel seen when they see my work.
Does art play a role in learning to love yourself as a Black Queer person?
I think art can be a tool in that toolbox of self love. I know, for me, art is like therapy in that way.
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