Mix:Master

2008. Love Rain (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in. ///

2008. Beautiful Struggle (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in.

2008. Cherry Oh Baby (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in.

2008. I Found My Smile Again (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in.

2008. LaLaLa Freedom (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in.

2008. Send It On (Mix:Master series). Ink on paper, 50 in x 18 in.

Like the multi-referential rhyming and rhythm in hip hop, Mix:Master is a series of work that brings together images and feelings from a range of influences
in my life. This work documents who I am: what I do, think, dream and desire.

Through representations of clothing, jewelry, records, boom boxes, bricks, autorickshaws water, fire, air, words, ornamentation, birds, prayer beads, building
and more, these drawings speak of the constant biculturalness of my longings and the music that understands me. As in a radical DJ set that takes you
from the dirty electricity of MIA to the heavy soul of D’Angelo to the lyrical richness of Nina Simone to the hardcore, vulnerable truth of Saul Williams,
Mix:Master slides in and out of the banal and profound corners of my heart where my dreams are both lost and found.

Although the experience of loss and the struggle for self after loss leaves a heavy mark on these drawings, the passionate celebration of friends, family and
popular culture also gets thrown into the mix. Among these moments are scattered political exigencies that are close to my heart such as the apartheid state
of stateless Palestine, the mass suicides of farmers in Punjab, and the ongoing struggle for the respect of difference.

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