Mikel Elam
My Destiny Revisited
2009
Mixed Media
10" x 10"
About Mikel Elam
"The foundation of every painting I’ve ever been drawn to is never just the surface imagery. It’s the layers underneath which tells me the real story. Certainly the surface layer is important. Yet it’s the infrastructure which give it a certain gravitas. For me life is very similar. Nothing is as it seems. We see this in the world. Numerous components to explain every occurrence.
The single common thread between all of us is, we breathe, we eat, we need sleep and we occasionally love. Yet somehow we create these categories which separate us. As a child I did not know I was different from anyone else. One day I discovered the system of caste.
As a visual artist and as a human; I am concerned with evolution. A place of equal negotiations. We are all aware of inequalities. Many want to do something about it. A few don’t. We protest, we march, we knock on doors for change.
My personal mission is to bring imagery to art which has not been understood or embraced by American culture. Perhaps this has happen because of my ancestors arriving as slaves. My work is a narrative about The Invisibles. Art, culture, people marginalized. Trivialized as less important. We can repair this. It’s just a lesson in another’s background. Our history. Our beliefs. Our practices. No different in how we learn to enjoy so many varying cuisines in this nation. It was introduced to us. We recognize its flavor and eventually we enjoy it for its differences."