Conversations: Jeremy Okai Davis
Fine Artist
What is your background, and how would you describe your work?
I’m first and foremost a portrait painter. My work is mostly figurative but I’ve always had a love for Pop Art and Post Modernism so my paintings have those sensibilities from the colors and my usage of text and graphic elements. In more recent years I’ve tried to address more contemporary concerns and tried to focus the work more on my upbringing and the current cultural climate.
Your portraits have multiple colors for the skin tones, what is the reason for this?
There are a couple reasons for this, how I came to paint portraits in this manner and what it means to me have kind of split. One of my first bodies of work was based on photos that I had taken of my friends. I had a very inexpensive digital camera so the resolution of the photos was very low. When I printed the images out the pixelation became much more apparent and different colors appeared in the skin tones. Pinks, and blues in Caucasian faces and purples and greens in African-Americans so I essentially tried to paint what I saw which led to this more pointilistic approach. Over time I’ve continued to paint people in this way and for me it’s become a representation of the complexities we hold. It’s meant to show that we are more that what you see. From afar the colors tend to blend but when you look closer you see the multiple layers and colors that we all contain.
Your portraits seem to be reminiscent of the 1960’s and 70’s, is this a conscience choice, and why?
I’ve always had an affinity for 60’s and 70’s style. I think it’s rooted in being born in the late 70’s and a sort of longing for what I missed. My mom and dad took a lot of photos, so as a kid I would dig through their albums and images from college, was always drawn to the fashion from that era. In looking for source material and creating my work I really want them to have a timeless feeling. So the images I choose need to have that same feeling and there is something about that era that really speaks to that.
If you could work within any past art movement, which would it be?
Like I mentioned before I’ve always loved Pop Art so being around during that era would be interesting; The 60’s and early 70’s and thereabout. Honestly though, it’s hard to separate the art world of that era from the country’s horrible history of racism so I can’t really pick the art movement without taking everything that influenced it and that would include the less savory parts. I do love what artists like Warhol, James Rosenquist and earlier than that, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg were doing. I still look to them for inspiration when I’m painting.
What is your working process? How does it start and where is the end?
My process these days starts with a topic that interests me and then doing research that leads to the paintings and hopefully a body of work. The paintings are sort of my way of working out what I’ve learned. I hope that in turn that catches the viewers interest and leads them down a path of wanting to know more. The look and feel of the work kind of depends on what I’m trying to get across. Sometimes I take a more didactic approach like with my commissioned public work and in my personal work I leave the themes a little more abstract and open to interpretation.
Do you listen to music when you are creating? If so, what do you listen to?
In the studio I usually have Netflix playing. Typically something that I can just listen to and don’t have to stare at. For some reason that helps me focus. It’s almost like white noise to me. I do listen to music from time to time or podcasts. Music wise, I listen to Jazz, more contemporary Rock or singer songwriter Folksy music. I have a pretty eclectic music library so it really depends on my mood, I’ll dig into Hip Hop from all eras. Hip Hop is my first real musical genre love. The 90’s were my formative years so music from that time always resonates with me and puts me in a creative mood.
Are you self taught, or did you go to art school?
I went to art school back home in North Carolina. I learned a lot in school but I’ve probably picked up more from experimentation. I took what I learned in school and from others and use that to solve problems while working, but also a lot of trial and error. So it’s a mix of schooling and self teaching really. I think that keeps the work and process fresh and interesting for me.
What piece of advice would you give to young aspiring artists of color?
My advice would be to follow your heart. One of the things I still struggle with is feeling a responsibility to be a voice of my culture and speak for the collective. It took me realizing that we as black men and women are different and that’s the beauty of us. One of the best things we can do and I mean we as African-Americans is to show our perspective even if it isn’t necessarily in line with what is perceived which seems obvious but it can be difficult. At least that’s what I’ve encountered. You can really stagnate yourself artistically by not owning who you are. For a long time it was hard for us to get our work seen and representing as many voices as possible is really important. So it’s paramount that we fill as many voids as possible and tell all of our stories. I have a kid now so I think about what he sees day to day and normalizing African-American faces in galleries and museums, be it subjects or the artists will make his childhood and life that much more fruitful. He needs to see himself reflected in all walks of the world so he knows that anything is attainable for him.
What is most fulfilling to you about your work?
I’ve been doing a lot more public art and having more public exhibitions outside of the gallery or museum world. It’s not necessarily in regards to the content of the work specifically but the reactions from the general public have been awesome. I have some work up at the airport and the emails and messages I get about it have been really motivating. It feels like a reminder that I’m doing the right thing and I’m on the right path. Also, just having the opportunity to make the work and be accepted as a valid artistic voice is a blessing. I’ve been creating work for a long time that was only really seen by close friends and family so the work being seen and appealing to strangers is amazing.
