Diego Poole

My name is Diego Poole and I was born and raised in Charlotte NC, when my mother was still alive. To me personally Charlotte will always be a place dear to me due to the fact that it is the only place in life that I can truly say I was home and happy. It all changed when my mother died when I was only 3 or 4years old and was forced to move down Highway 74 to Union County, where I lived at Monroe and Marshville, NC most of my life. These places influence my work very much.

None of my peers support me financially, but they encourage me to use my talents and be creative. I started to realize I was made for the art world when I was very young. I would usually draw anything, but students in my elementary classes were always choosing me to draw when it came to teaming up in a group drawing project. I also knew I was destined to create when I was given documents stating that I was known to have been drawing human features when I was only three years old. At the time I was just making art to just create it, so to me it was nothing special. But many people said I had a gift for it.

Later as I grew up and went to college I started to actually make art out of my life experiences. This included things like dealing with my aunts who were alcoholic and money hungry. And I lived in a poor community filled with poverty. Gang violence was always around.

I am just happy I did not turn out to be another statistic in my community. I lived in a house of thirteen people, so times were really tough when your growing up with brothers and cousins and uncles and others. We did not have much and could not afford the nice things, but we were still able to manage. I create art to express what I have been

through. Hopefully others can relate. It is because of these experiences that I create so much work. The number of hardships and battles I have had to live through gives me no limit to what I can create. I work in various media including drawing, painting, sculpting and printmaking.

The first work I believe I ever sold was a painting I did of rap artist Drake. It was a simple black and green painting that people really loved. So I starting making more and before I knew it, I had also sold a Nicki Minaj and a Beyonce painting. I have also sold wood carvings and prints.

I can see me selling art in the near future, which is what I plan to do. I want to own an art studio. I love creating artwork that tells a story that many can relate to. I am currently finishing up the second half of my Jungle series. It is the follow up of my 2016 Jungle 1 series that told the story of a little boy becoming a man. Jungle Series 2 will depict the next chapters of hardships after becoming that man.

One of the works in Jungle Series 2 is the piece called What Drives Me Crazy,. It shows a scene of a young man suffering from depression from difficult things going on in his life. It shows him seeing himself in the mirror. He sees himself smoking and drinking, exposing his flaws and his bad habits that are just coping mechanisms. It is that moment, that reality check, that maybe he needs to stop what he is doing. The many different shades of blue help bring out this deep depressive state. The focal point of the artwork is definitely the neon orange dot that represents smoking. I hope that this series will have four other works.

If I had to choose an artist who inspires me it would be my Louisburg College art professor, Will Hinton. He always taught me to draw what I see, not what I know. Other artists that inspire me are Michaelangelo, Picasso, and Takashi Murakami. I wished I owned the Takashi Murakami cover art of Kanye West’s Graduation album. His work is very expressive and colorful.

The elements that I like to use most as an artist are storytelling and the depiction of life changing experiences. I find all different types of creative ideas from my own past. I also tell stories I hear that others have gone through. I feel my art work is a way share these experiences with the world.

Contact information: Email: dapoole2014@louisburg.edu

What Drives Me Crazy Acrylic on canvas