Markeith Woods

My work abstracts two narratives of the figures I paint and my own experiences. My paintings depict a personal story of Life’s reality that explores the psychological state of living as a Black male in the United States, always in survival mode in a culture meant to create division and separation. I re-create my personal experiences through conversations between my subjects by using familiar images, poses, objects, environments, and emotions. Perception is everything, so I make it my mission to tell a correct view of the figures in my artwork from my lenses as I have experiences judgments from an incorrect perspective. When faced with Life’s challenges and confronting pain, it drives out the imperfection we face; Life’s challenges and pain bring society’s ills to light, such as oppression, health disparities, societal problems, unemployment, and other issues. I paint a moment of my subjects going through these transitions and finding similar experiences that I relate to because it is not my subject’s fault that Life challenges; it is the inadequate structures of systems built into institutions meant to oppress.

I identify with the characters in my classmates, as their experiences and goals reflect a normal state of mind. I am interested in my subjects’ subjectivity and think about creating a composition that captures their experience from their perspective. I also obscure perspective to show how the policies and rules of institutions stop agency. Part of the process is contacting my high school classmates and discussing how our experiences are similar. Next, I go into my city Pine Bluff, AR community, where I grew up to take pictures of my classmates to create a similar environment and experience based on our conversation. I aim to show the sitter looking off in a daze and train of thought because Blacks are responsible for how the world perceives us and are forced to take ownership over problems that the system creates. By working so closely with my subjects, I redefine a new perspective for Blacks and the viewer to develop new authorship of existentialism due to the world’s narratives of Black individuals being told in a negative light without all the facts. Hence, I paint to provide more information from two points of view.

Biography