in hearing the voices of people who haven't been heard.

我相信去聆聽沒有被聆聽的人，

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

這當中有著美麗。

["The Jerome Project (Asphalt and Chalk) III," 2014]

〔《拉上窗簾》，2014〕

[Beneath an Unforgiving Sun (From A Tropical Space)," 2020]

〔《傑若米計畫（瀝青與白堊）Ⅲ》 2014〕

That's a complex idea,

〔《無情太陽下（來自熱帶空間）》 2020〕

because the things that must be said are not always lovely.

那是個複雜的想法，

But somehow,

因為必須要說出來的話 不見得一定都很美好。

if they're reflective of truth,

但，在某種層面上，

I think, fundamentally, that makes them beautiful.

如果它們反映出真相，

(Music)

我想，基本上，

There's the aesthetic beauty of the work

它們就是美麗的。

that in some cases functions as more of a Trojan horse.

（音樂）

It allows one to open their hearts to difficult conversations.

在某些情況中，作品美感的功能

Maybe you feel attracted to the beauty,

就像是特洛伊木馬一樣。

and while compelled by the technique,

它讓人能夠打開心，

the color,

接受困難的對話。

the form or composition,

也許你會覺得被美麗吸引，

maybe the difficult conversation sneaks up.

同時很佩服用到的技巧、

["Billy Lee and Ona Judge Portraits in Tar," 2016]

色彩、形式或構圖，

I really taught myself how to paint

也許困難的對談就悄悄出現了。

by spending time at museums

〔《比利·李和奧妮·賈奇的 焦油瀝青畫像》，2016〕

and looking at the people that --

我自學畫畫的方式

the artists, rather -- that I was told were the masters.

是花時間在博物館裡，

Looking at the Rembrandts ["The Night Watch"],

去看人——

Renoir ["Luncheon of the Boating Party"],

或說藝術家——別人所稱的大師。

Manet ["Luncheon on the Grass"],

我看著林布蘭〔《守夜》〕、

it becomes quite obvious

雷諾瓦〔《船上的午宴》〕、 馬奈〔《草地上的午宴》〕，

that if I'm going to learn how to paint a self-portrait

很明顯地，

by studying those people,

如果我要透過研究這些人

I'm going to be challenged

來學習如何畫自畫像，

when it comes to mixing my skin

我一定會受到挑戰，

or mixing the skin of those people in my family.

因為我需要混合出我的膚色

There's literally formulas written down historically

或我家人的膚色。

to tell me how to paint white skin --

對於要如何畫出白人的皮膚，

what colors I should use for the underpainting,

歷史上是已經存在公式——

what colors I should use for the impasto highlights --

要用什麼顏色打底，

that doesn't really exist for dark skin.

要用什麼顏色 做厚塗顏料的強調部分——

It's not a thing.

黑皮膚沒有這些公式。

It's not a thing

不存在。

because the reality is, our skin wasn't considered beautiful.

不存在是因為

The picture, the world that is represented in the history of paintings

現實是人們認為 我們的皮膚不美麗。

doesn't reflect me.

在繪畫歷史中 所呈現出來的那個世界、

It doesn't reflect the things that I value in that way,

那個寫照，沒有反映出我。

and that's the conflict that I struggle with so frequently,

沒有用那種方式 反映出我重視的東西，

is, I love the technique of these paintings,

那是我經常要掙扎著面對的衝突，

I have learned from the technique of these paintings,

我很喜愛這些畫作的技巧，

and yet I know that they have no concern for me.

我從這些畫作的技巧中學習，

And so there are so many of us who are amending this history

但我也知道它們完全不在乎我。

in order to simply say we were there.

所以我們有許多人

Because you couldn't see doesn't mean we weren't there.

在修改這個歷史，

We have been there.

目的只是要說，我們也存在其中。

We have been here.

你看不見，不表示我們不存在。

We've continued to be seen as not beautiful,

我們一直都在那裡。 我們一直都在這裡。

but we are,

我們一直被視為是不美麗的，

and we are here.

但我們是美麗的，

So many of the things that I make

且我們在這裡。

end up as maybe futile attempts to reinforce that idea.

所以，我的許多作品

["Drawing the Blinds," 2014]

最終也許依然無法加強那個觀念。

["Seeing Through Time," 2018]

〔《拉上窗簾》，2014〕

Even though I've had the Western training,

〔《看越時間》，2018〕

my eye is still drawn to the folks who look like me.

雖然我受過西方的訓練，

And so sometimes in my work,

我的眼睛仍然被那些 外表與我相似的人所吸引。

I have used strategies like whiting out the rest of the composition

有時，在我的作品中，

in order to focus on the character who may go unseen otherwise.

我會用些策略，比如 將構圖的其他部分給抹白，

I have cut out other figures from the painting,

讓焦點能落在本來可能 不會被看見的角色上。

one, to either emphasize their absence,

我也曾經將其他人物從畫作中割掉，

or two, to get you to focus on the other folks in the composition.

一方面強調他們的缺席，

["Intravenous (From a Tropical Space)," 2020]

二方面讓你專注在 構圖中的其他人身上。

So "The Jerome Project," aesthetically, draws on hundreds of years

〔《靜脈內（來自 熱帶空間）》，2020〕

of religious icon painting,

在美感上來說，《傑若米計劃》

["The Jerome Project (My Loss)," 2014]

利用了數百年的

a kind of aesthetic structure that was reserved for the church,

宗教肖像繪畫，

reserved for saints.

〔《傑若米計劃》 （我的損失），2014〕

["Madonna and Child"]

一種教堂、聖人專用的

["Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament"]

美感結構。〔《聖母子》〕

["Christ Pantocrator"]

〔《希臘詩篇與新約中的一頁》〕

It's a project that is an exploration of the criminal justice system,

〔《基督全能的主》〕

not asking the question "Are these people innocent or guilty?",

這個計劃是在探索刑事司法體系，

but more, "Is this the way that we should deal with our citizens?"

不是問「這些人是 無辜的還是有罪的？」

I started a body of work,

而是問「我們應該用這種方式 對待我們的公民嗎？」

because after being separated from my father

我開始創作一系列作品，

for almost 15 years,

因為在與我父親分開

I reconnected with my father, and ...

近十五年之後，

I really didn't know how to make a place for him in my life.

我和他重新連結上，且……

As with most things I don't understand,

我真的不知道要如何 在人生中空出個位置給他。

I work them out in the studio.

和所有我不了解的事物一樣，

And so I just started making these portraits of mug shots,

我會在工作室中想辦法處理。

starting because I did a Google search for my father,

我剛開始畫這些入監照，

just wondering what had happened over this 15-year period.

這是因為我 Google 搜尋了我父親，

Where had he gone?

只是想知道在這十五年間 發生了什麼事。

And I found his mug shot, which of course was of no surprise.

他去哪兒了？

But I found in that first search 97 other Black men

然後我找到了他的入監照， 當然我並不意外。

with exactly the same first and last name,

但我在第一次的搜尋結果中 發現了另外九十七名黑人，

and I found their mug shots, and that -- that was a surprise.

有完全相同的姓和名，

And not knowing what to do,

且我找到他們的入監照， 那——那就讓我很意外。

I just started painting them.

我不知道該怎麼辦，

Initially, the tar was a formula that allowed me to figure out

所以我就開始畫他們。

how much of these men's life had been lost to incarceration.

一開始，瀝青是一種配方，

But I gave up that,

讓我可以理解這些人 在監禁中失去了多少人生。

and the tar became far more symbolic

但我放棄了那麼做，

as I continued,

隨著我繼續畫下去， 瀝青變得更有象徵性，

because what I realized is

因為我了解到， 你被監禁的時間只是個開端，

the amount of time that you spend incarcerated is just the beginning

接下來監禁還會對你剩下的人生 衝擊很長的一段時間。

of how long it's going to impact the rest of your life.

所以，就那種情境中的美麗來說，

So in terms of beauty within that context,

我從曾經或正在被監禁的

I know from my friend's family

朋友家人那裡得知，

who have been incarcerated,

人會想要被記得。

who are currently incarcerated,

人會想要被看見。

folks want to be remembered.

我們把人關起來很長一段時間，

Folks want to be seen.

在某些案例中，只因為他們 做過那麼一件大錯事。

We put people away for a long time,

在某種程度上，

in some cases,

這其實就是在說：

for that one worst thing that they've done.

「我看見你了。我們看見你了。」

So to a degree,

我想，這是一種

it's a way of just saying,

美麗的示意。

"I see you.

在《善行迷思的背後》畫作中，

We see you."

有張似乎畫著湯瑪斯·傑佛遜的帷幔

And I think that, as a gesture,

被拉開來，揭示出

is beautiful.

藏在後面的黑人女子。

In the painting "Behind the Myth of Benevolence,"

這名黑人女子同時是莎麗·海明斯，

there's almost this curtain of Thomas Jefferson

也代表蒙蒂塞洛農園中

painted and pulled back to reveal a Black woman who's hidden.

每一個黑人女子，

This Black woman is at once Sally Hemings,

以及所有其他黑人女子。

but she's also every other Black woman

關於湯瑪斯·傑佛遜， 我們確實知道一件事：

who was on that plantation Monticello

他相信自由，

and all the rest of them.

也許這信念比任何人 所撰寫的都還要強。

The one thing we do know about Thomas Jefferson

如果我們知道那是真的， 如果我們相信那是真的，

is that he believed in liberty,

那麼在那個情境中， 唯一能做的善行

maybe more strongly than anyone who's ever written about it.

就是把那自由延伸出去。

And if we know that to be true, if we believe that to be true,

所以，在這系列的作品中，

then the only benevolent thing to do in that context

我用了兩張不同的畫作，

would be to extend that liberty.

強迫疊合在一起，

And so in this body of work,

來強調這些構圖中

I use two separate paintings

這種黑與白之間的混亂關係。

that are forced together on top of one another

所以，那種——

to emphasize this tumultuous relationship between Black and white

那種矛盾，

in these compositions.

那種讓人心力交瘁的現實， 總是藏在帷幔後，

And so, that --

在這個國家，種族關係 發生了什麼事——

that contradiction,

那正是這幅畫作的重點。

that devastating reality that's always behind the curtain,

畫作的名稱叫做 《為了紀念再打一戰》。

what is happening in race relations in this country --

名稱就點出了不斷的重覆。

that's what this painting is about.

名稱也點出了

The painting is called "Another Fight for Remembrance."

警方對黑人

The title speaks to repetition.

所採用的那種暴力，

The title speaks to the kind of violence against Black people

這種暴力曾經發生過， 也還持續在發生，

by the police

現在我們看到它再次發生。

that has happened and continues to happen,

這幅畫作有點算是被當成

and we are now seeing it happen again.

關於佛格森的畫作來編輯。

The painting is sort of editorialized as a painting about Ferguson.

它並非與佛格森無關，

It's not not about Ferguson,

但它也並非與底特律無關，

but it's also not not about Detroit,

它亦並非與明尼亞波里斯無關。

it's also not not about Minneapolis.

這幅畫作的起緣是因為

The painting was started because

我和我兄弟前往紐約

on a trip to New York

去看我自己的藝術作品時，

to see some of my own art with my brother,

我們有數小時的時間進出畫廊，

as we spent hours walking in and out of galleries,

那天的結束方式卻是

we ended the day by being stopped by an undercover police car

我們在街上被臥底警車給攔下來。

in the middle of the street.

兩位警員把手放在槍上，

These two police officers with their hands on their gun

要我們停下來，要我們面對著牆。

told us to stop.

他們指控我從畫廊 空間中偷竊藝術品，

They put us up against the wall.

其實我是在那裡展覽我的藝術品。

They accused me of stealing art

當警員站在那裡，手放在武器上時，

out of a gallery space where I was actually exhibiting art.

我問警員，我的公民資格

And as they stood there with their hands on their weapons,

和所有其他人有什麼不同，

I asked the police officer what was different about my citizenship

為什麼此刻他們就不會被打擾？

than that of all of the other people

他告訴我，他們已經 跟蹤我們兩個小時了，

who were not being disturbed in that moment.

且他們一直接到申訴，

He informed me that they had been following us for two hours

說有兩名黑人不斷進出畫廊。

and that they had been getting complaints about Black men,

那幅畫作在畫的是現實，

two Black men walking in and out of galleries.

問題並不是這種情況

That painting is about the reality,

「是否」會再次發生，

that it's not a question

而是「何時」會再發生。

of if this is going to happen again,

這是最新一系列的作品， 叫做《來自熱帶空間》。

it's a question of when.

這系列畫作的主題是黑人母親。

This most recent body of work is called "From a Tropical Space."

這系列畫作發生在一個

This series of paintings is about Black mothers.

過飽和的，也許是 超自然主義的世界，

The series of paintings takes place in a supersaturated,

和我們所居住的世界差不多。

maybe surrealist world,

但在這個世界中，

not that far from the one we live in.

這些黑人女性的孩子

But in this world,

正在消失。

the children of these Black women

這件作品的真正重點是創傷，

are disappearing.

黑人女性，尤其是我們 族群中的有色人種女性，

What this work is really about is the trauma,

必須要掙扎渡過什麼

the things that Black women and women of color in particular

才能讓她們的孩子踏上人生的道路。

in our community

讓我很振奮的是，

have to struggle through in order to set their kids out

我的這種做法

on the path of life.

讓我有機會

What's encouraging for me

可以和我的族群中的年輕人合作。

is that this practice of mine

我很肯定，答案不在我身上，

has given me the opportunity

但若我還懷抱有希望， 也許答案會在他們身上。

to work with young people in my community.

《NXTHVN》是在 大約五年前開始的計劃。

I'm quite certain the answers are not in me,

NXTHVN 是一個 四萬平方英呎的藝術孵化地，

but if I'm hopeful at all,

位於康乃狄格州紐哈芬市 狄克斯威爾區的中心。

it's that they may be in them.

這一區主要是黑色和褐色 皮膚人種居住的地區。

"NXTHVN" is a project that started about five years ago.

這一區的每個角落

NXTHVN is a 40,000-square-foot arts incubator

都有爵士的歷史。

in the heart of the Dixwell neighborhood

我們居住的這一區， 在許多層面上都遭受到減資。

in New Haven, Connecticut.

學校要非常辛苦

This is a predominantly Black and Brown neighborhood.

才能讓我們這些居民 為將來做好準備。

It is a neighborhood that has the history of jazz at every corner.

我知道創意是很重要的資產。

Our neighborhood, in many ways, has been disinvested in.

要有創意

Schools are struggling to really prepare our population

才能夠想像出

for the futures ahead of them.

一個不同於眼前的未來。

I know that creativity is an essential asset.

所以，我們計劃中的每位藝術家

It takes creativity

都有一名高中工作室助理：

to be able to imagine a future

有一位來自紐哈芬市的高中生

that is so different than the one that is before you.

和他們合作，學習他們的手藝，

And so every artist in our program has a high school studio assistant:

學習他們的做法。

there's a high school student that comes from the city of New Haven

所以我們見識到

who works with them and learns their craft,

讓人們了解創意的力量

learns their practice.

能如何改變他們。

And so we've seen the ways

美麗是很複雜的，

in which pointing folks at the power of creativity

那是因為我們定義它的方式。

can change them.

我認為美麗和真相

Beauty is complicated,

以某種方式編結在一起。

because of how we define it.

有某種

I think that beauty and truth

美麗

are intertwined somehow.

存在於訴說真相當中。

There is something

就是：

beautiful

訴說真相的這個動作，

in truth-telling.

以及它各式各樣的呈現方式——

That is:

有美麗存在其中。

that as an act, truth-telling

and the myriad ways it manifests --

there's beauty in that.