I’ve always found comfort in expressing myself creatively, and with loads of extra time on my hands during the first lockdown last March, I quickly fell back in love with an old passion of mine: painting.

Not only did painting allow me to briefly escape the loneliness of quarantine and the anxieties surrounding an uncertain future, it gave me a voice when I felt powerless.

Following the heartbreaking murder of George Floyd and subsequent uproar in the media that took place in late May of last year, a feeling of despair came over me as I sat alone in my room watching the news, sorrowful yet numb. The horrifying headlines and social media hashtags were just another painful reminder of the enduring mark of structural racism in the United States and its impact on the Black community.

Stuck in my own head, I battled familiar feelings of fear, hurt, and helplessness that grew deeper each time I saw another Black life become a hashtag. I was at a loss for words, so I decided to turn to art.

This time was different, though. I wasn’t only painting to distract myself from my restless mind; my focus was on creating art that would really ignite change.