With our new series “An artist´s life.” we want to share the stories of the people behind the art.
“An artist´s life.”
The stories of the people behind the art
#5 Yogi
“I’ve been thinking for months now how to dive deeper within myself to reflect in my art. With that, I have asked myself a range of questions, tried to step out of myself to really see other’s perspective and really just allowed myself the space to remain honest about my process. At the beginning of it, I realized that I didn’t really know where to start or what to ask myself in order to supply answers that would allow me to dive deeper, so I started first by asking other people.
One of the biggest questions I receive from my audience is, “why women?”, and to me the answer is obvious; women are the best protagonists. I won’t go too deeply into this specific portion of my process but at the core of it my reasoning is simple, women wear their hearts on their sleeves. Whether up or down, good or bad, the emotion felt in a single moment can either fill a room with joy or deflate the energy in a matter of seconds and that is a trait in women that I find extremely fascinating.
“One of the biggest questions I receive from my audience is, “why women?”
It is probably due to the fact that Black men in America are raised with an emotional curfew; so witnessing an embrace of emotional freedom, in contrast, is like being immersed in a Bengali wedding ceremony, foreign to my eyes but oh so interesting. When it comes to women, beauty is a given and intelligence is underrated but my main reasoning is their ability to wield energy and emotion like a samurai wields his katana, with cutting precision.
In this process of appreciation, I have also fallen in love with the female form. The curves, the softness, the little details that God designed them with that separates their physique from ours. Women deserve our utmost respect, not because times have changed but because they should have had it from the beginning of time. It is from a place of respect that I try to carry this flag, one of justice rather than exploitation. It is this I hope that I succeed when my work is looked at in years to come.”
Words and Photography by Yogi
Model is Brii Phoenix