This is Justine, in the 1930’s her great grandmother moved her family from New York to the Watts neighborhood in south Los Angeles amid a backdrop of intense racial discrimination. One of the many faces this discrimination took was in the form of housing covenants, deed restrictions and extralegal measures that restricted minorities from living in many parts of Los Angeles. They were limited by covenants as well as a narrow access to financing known as redlining. These covenants were a part of southern California housing since the late nineteenth century and they were struck down partially in 1948 and then completely in 1953.

The words I chose to use in the formation of this portrait are sections from current residential deeds that still to this day contain the covenants restricting ownership to whites only, though they lack any legal standing. I also chose to use the words from the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Justine stands as a testament to her family’s strength and tenacity in the face of a system of governance that is biased against them.

“Justine”  60″x37″ Ink on panel

Detail:

This is Elon, “My father survived the Holocaust but lost his entire immediate family. His mother and two sisters were victims of an SS roundup and mass execution. His father was killed by Ukrainian militia, right in front of him. It’s my responsibility to bear witness for all of them.”

The words are the Nuremberg Race Laws  of 1935. The Nazis implemented these laws to ostracize, discriminate and expel Jews from German society.

Elon stands in defiance of this injustice.

The weight of history is carried by the generations that follow. May we never repeat this history

60″ x 37″ Ink on panel

Detail:

Given the weight of the news of the day I wanted to post an image and idea out there. This is an image from Elon Shoenholz’s photo archive documenting the protest marches that have occurred since November 2016. She was photographed in the first protest march following the elections. The marks that form the drawing are the words of the Declaration of Sentiments from 1848, which is one of the first documents to claim equal rights for women. It marked the beginning of the women’s rights movement.

60″x37″ Ink on panel

Detail:

This is the third in a series of six I plan on doing in this format 60?x37″.

I met “Marcus” sleeping on the streets at Venice and West Ave. and I started thinking about homelessness and the feeling of being powerless. I knew I wanted to draw him and wanted to depict him as an equal in the eyes of our government. I choose to use the text from the Bill of Rights as my mark as it reaffirms the ideas of individual rights and equality that are the values upon which our nation was built. Portraying him seated filling half the frame lets him represent the inequity that is our reality.

60″ x 37″ Ink on panel

Detail:

Wonderful Review in Fabrik by Jimmy Centeno

http://thisisfabrik.com/review-beauty-awash-in-a-sea-of-bad-news-by-bryan-ida/

This is a portrait of my grandfather drawn from a photograph taken in 1942,  by Dorothea Lange when she was commissioned to photograph Japanese Americans being interned during the start of the US entry into World War 2. The marks are the text from Executive Order no. 9066 which established military areas excluding those of Japanese descent and establishing the internment camps.

I only met my grandfather in the hospital briefly as he died when I was very young. Drawing him was a way of getting to know him and imagining what he was thinking as he was led to an unknown future. Historical context is everything but hopefully by reaching back into history we might someday learn from our misplaced fear. Letting hatred go unchecked will only burn us alive

60″x37″ ink on panel

Detail:

Original Dorothea Lange Image:

Another in my series of portraits that attempt to depict current social and political extremes. This is a portrait of my neighbor in my apartment building. The marks are made from me writing out all of Trump’s tweets from inauguration day until September 25^th, 2017, 1550 entries. I stopped on that date because the piece was done.

60″ x 37″ Ink on panel

Detail:

Mistake and struggle are the pathways to new beginnings. Another piece in my water series. 

My show at George Billis Gallery LA has been extended to July 1st. This is the last week to view the show, please stop by.