Terrell Washington Anansi Artist of Change I am influenced by Warhol, Picasso, Jean-Paul Basquiat. Ndebele art, Romare Bearden, Martha Graham, African movements and time cycles, Alice Walker, foriegn films,Truman Capote, Martin Luther King, Jr, surrealistic art, Grace Jones, afro futuristic art, foriegn films and the common sense chapters and the uncommon storylines of human beings. Living a life as an artist since my teens in the 1960’s, I have been influenced by Prince, New Journalism, punk and funk rapping, Gil Scott Heron, Miles Davis, world religions and personal spirituality, sustainability. In an attempt to find my authentic self, at 19 I ran to San Franscisco, to my expressive land of freedom...to only return to be born again at the age of 26. I began to redefine my experiences, recycle my knowledge of being creatively free and life experiences of being a hair designer, street performer, dancer, model and club kid. I became a sustainable, recycle artist of life, as I recycled the pain and joys of the storyline, the flow of my life. I inherited the awareness the art of recycling from being raised with my grandparents former farm people, now teachers who survived the Great Depression and I had landed in the Land of Great Expression. I began to upcycle the stories and wisdom of my grandparents, the lessons in being sacred and loving into a way of being, a way to change the world, a way to change myself. I embraced my duty as a gatekeeper, a watcher and storyteller, of my african tradition. I allowed myself to explore the idea of becoming more a holistic person by putting all of the pieces of the puzzle of my life’s journey into a narrative of alignment and purpose. My purpose, as a gatekeeper and seer, was to fine tune the true vision of my voice, as an artist and a human being and use the results for the improvement of the society. I learned to collaborate to enhance and support the value of my voice, as well as the voices of those I collaborated with. I call my art Tribal Neo Pop Art. I am a Graphic Scatter. I use tribal colors and storytelling graphics in a modern pop culture voice. My medium is Mixed Media, a combination of acrylic paint, pen and ink, color pencils, wax pencils, L A Times newspaper on wood, recycled canvases, along with bark, leaves and recycled frames. I explore traditional and mystical archetypes, personal as well as universal challenge our known myths with text written and text suggested in colorful compositions, in constructs which honor ideas and images illustrating life in spiritual terms. This images are ritual, storytelling, ceremonies and rites of passage, dance steps in faith and memories in sacred references. I began my journey as a serious sustainable visual artist making art of pressed bark, leaves and cardboard on canvas and recycle frames to daily newspaper on canvas and recycled wood. It is a continuous circle of physical and spiritual human life. It is my personal and sacred challenge to make meaningful, fine art out of discarded memories, newspaper headlines, people’s belongings and histories. I allow the recycled bark, paper and cardboard, fabric and wood to talk to me and dream with me, dictate with spirit in co-creation. I then colorize and assemble my three/free dimensional art. I seal my sculpture with a non-fired glaze in a final attempt to create a modern quilting. I am a revolutionary artist who has become an evolutionary artist of social change.
2
3
4
I am influenced by Langston Hughes, Bob Dylan, Trent, Seal and C.C.Music Factory, sex and cyclic love, Enya Melodies, Kate Bush and fusion music, Mandela and Grease...the Talking Heads what my family gave spiritually and culturally, I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my family, continue the family legacy in a modern way. Grandfather and grandmother were a cappella gospel music teachers, my mother was a gospel singer and my aunt sang jazz clubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as being a gospel singer herself. I lived in a bell jar of sacred voices of expression and emotions. I realized at an early age, my gift was to speak the gospel of humanity, as the human story around me unfolded, played itself out in conversations, words thrown in mid-air or grounded in the midst of a human story looking for healing. I learned to speak the words, paint the pictures, living a life of being a little tribal, organic and land based in my philosophies while integrating be-bop, hip-hop, pop life into cultural textures, bright colors of life that help to create spiritual stories of the web of life that have an eye on the past, the present and the upcoming future. Many of my art pieces have two, three or four dates of completion on an individual artwork. I usually commit to working on multiple pieces of art at the same time. Sometimes an individual series or multiple series are in the making at the same time. I relate to the world in all time or dream time. All aspects of a story contribute to exploring and identifying new and old truths of the human story being revealed, coming from spirit passing through me. It is a joining, a journey of observation, a perspective response and another opportunity to complete another chapter of our human story coming from the circle of life. I am influenced by the meeting of and modeling for Imogen Cunningham, knowing Sylvester and the Cockettes, listening to RedBone, Sly and the Family Stone, eastern melodies, exploring aboriginal art, women’s literature, gay literature, black literature, five years of being the lead singer and lyricist of the band Black Moses Supreme, working with Tim Carmody participating in photography modeling, creating a graphic novel, learning to carve and print linoleum blocks and collaborating on installations, individual and joint projects, three years of writing for Goodmenproject (goodmenproject.com) writing about the modern man’s position in our modern society, being in an artist collective(Mystic Arts) for four years where I embraced hand-painted clothing and being a part of the management team to support the artists. I am influenced by sustainability in modern life, my dedication to attaining the equality of human rights, my spiritual journey of meditation and prayer, including being a spoken word artist using East Indian music, sound healers, music beats, being a father of a daughter who under the age of five years old was taking two hour naps which allowed me the chance to start a journey of making meaningful art out of discarded memories, people’s belongings and human stories using recycled bark, the L A Times newspaper, packing paper, cardboard, fabric, wood and recycled canvases. My daughter is now thirty three and I was thirty six when she was born. This act of self healing has become my daily ritual I still do every day, I am turning the pages of our society’s pages in order to create a society of solution, multi-colored, multi-racial, gender fluid, eco-friendly, as a sustainable artist, while being love in action. I celebrate my human story and the sacred stories of human life.
5
Terrell Anansi Dreaming of Freedom, 2018, Mixed Media, 30”x40”
6
Detail: Dreaming of Freedom
Dreaming of Freedom I am here, looking, waiting and wanting for justice to be the common mode of living, just like the way we trust our breath to be there. I want it to be a given, not just a desire. I am dreaming of the freedom of my voice, my way of living and I am willing to accept respect and acts of love giving without asking a soul. I am calling for the conversations of clarity, content and compassion. I want the truth and the beauty of freedom to be heard. I want to hear the songs of freedom, hold the hands that will sustain me. I have a dream of hope. TWA
7
Terrell Anansi Altar of Faith, 2018, Mixed Media, 29”x48”
8
Detail: Altar of Faith
Altars of Faith I find those altars of faith in every corner of my being‌within every reach of my open hand, an open ear, a willing heart or in the chambers of an evolved mind. I am aware of the sacredness of my personal faith, the tool I use to generate the energy of love, the energy of healing. I am clear within my being, I have come to this planet to be of service to my humanity, to exercise my free will to be love in action, to be a part to the solotion to bring peace to myself and then the world. I am a living altar of faith. TWA
9
Terrell Anansi Beyond Time, 2018, Mixed Media, 18”x48”
10
Detail: Beyond Time
Beyond Time I am the past, the present and the future. I am beyond time. I am an echo of dreamtime, the heart of the matter, an echo of life. Remenber my story, my song that I sing, Remember my notes of loving, my notes of awareness. My voice is endless and as homeless as the moon. I will live in the light of the night and the light of the day. I will rise and set your sun. I will be your moon and your stars, I am eternal as the test of time. I am.TWA
11