My work was inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled Ernok(1982).In this piece Basquiat depicted a black figure who seems to be incomplete. The work is meant to showcase how the black body is torn apart, “ravished” and “appropriated” to serve the needs of the “white masters.” In his piece of art, Basquiat seems to doodle and unmask the ugliness of this art to comment on these issue. By mentioning a sense of “ravishing of the black body,” Basquiat focuses on commenting on the socio-political issues that pigment minorities.

In my piece I chose to include the figure drawn in Basquiat’s work to showcase his inspiration and the disfigurement of the body. I added layers to this piece of art to showcase it’s imperfection and this idea of doodling that was prevalent in his pieces. To make it personal, I decided to add a picture of my hair to the figure to showcase how the figure represents me and how I’ve been affected by socio-political matters caused by corporations and those in power. In order to fully explain why the body is being ravished and affected by those in authority I related it to the inadequate air conditions that affect my home -The South Bronx, which is made up of a community that is 97% black and Hispanic. This community has been stripped of their health and life outcomes all in the hands of urban planners and corporations.