Pledge of Allegiance

Oil on Linen Mounted to Panel
This painting is my portrait of America. Roshan is a dear friend of mine. He is a young and proud black man, a free spirit, a hippie, a rebel, a wanderer, an outcast- a marginalized, misunderstood, minority in every sense of the word. He is one of the most beautiful people I know; by beauty, I mean he has a spirit and inner glow that lights up everyone he encounters. I painted a portrait of him, with the fire in his soul embodied by his tie-dye shirt, wearing a jacket shrouded in symbols. It dawns a chipped flag pin, a skull symbolic of past pain and loss, and a symbol of climate crisis. He places his hand on his chest with a red sheet of paper underneath in front of the Black Forest burn scar. The world around him is in chaos, yet he stands solemn. He is calm. He is proud, and he is as American as apple pie.
He's everything I love about my country, and I pay tribute to us through this beautiful soul.