The Dossier

Too often, Black history, Black experiences, and Black achievement are silenced, removed, rewritten, or forgotten. Stories are being removed from classrooms. Experiences are being reduced to footnotes on a page, and achievements are limited or overlooked. Some of those people who lived these stories are or were not given an opportunity to share them.

The Canvas Bureau is a platform created to respond to that silence.

Each canvas is a case file.

Each canvas becomes a record.

Through simple abstract imagery, my goal is to document pieces of Blackness which includes life, history, the culture, the resilience, the joy, the resistance, and everything else that exist in the lines between them. Some of my work recreates well-known stories, and some highlights lesser known or maybe some we were never taught. Some of my work also captures ordinary everyday experiences of the Black life worthy of being in the spotlight.

I treat every piece as a case file allowing for myself, and others to examine each and have a closer look at the stories being told. To question. To remember. To understand. To pass on.

My goal is to not attempt to capture the ENTIRE Black experience, because I do not think that is possible. However, my goal is to always contribute to the record, one piece at a time because what is consistently documented becomes harder and harder to erase. No matter how hard they try.

DOSSIER STATUS: ACTIVE

The record continues, the archive is still being written…