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Exhibit: Paintings by Dwayne Martin


May 3-28 * Exhibit open during all events and by appointment: email info@rhizomedc.org * Opening reception Saturday May 6 from 4-6pm

I am a painter whose work focuses on the connection between feeling and color and the emotions they evoke, communicating without talking, through the gestures I produce on the canvas. As a self-taught artist who began a committed practice in 2016, my work is abstract and neo-expressionist. I was born and raised in Washington, DC. I live in Ward 7, and I am a resident artist at Red Dirt Studio in Mt. Rainier, MD. I work with a variety of paints, from oil to enamel, spray paint and acrylics, and I use different tools to apply the paint, including knives, playing cards, and hairbrushes. Painting is a form of therapy and a tool I use to feed the parts of my life where I am malnourished and depleted, giving me a place to put my anxiety and anger. Painting is also a time to contemplate and reflect. The balance I seek is reflected in my paintings which contain messages of rage at my experiences as a Black man in America, to expressions of deep joy and love.