Artist Spotlight: Rodeguise Calhoun
About Rodeguise
Age: 49
Time Inside: 22 years of a life sentence
Where he calls home: Raleigh, North Carolina, but he's originally from Birmingham, Alabama
An artist he's inspired by: The CoBrA Group
Favorite artistic medium: It varies, because he likes to switch it up, but if he had to pick one it would be acrylic paint.
Why he chose Obama as his subject: Obama was a symbol and example of "Hope & Change", for his campaign and the Nation going forward
What he's working on now: An acrylic painting
"Barack Hussain Obama" (Calhoun, 2023)
Artist Statement:
The world has changed, and we must change with it.” (Obama’s first inaugural speech on January 20, 2009.) The inspiration behind the colors to me was a reflection of the times where true diversity and liberation came with change. And major changes of sorts came about with Obama’s inauguration.
In his own words:
My experience with PRP3, the " Prison Re-imagined: Presidential Portrait Project" has been amazing, although I almost didn't participate. After all the years of hearing other peoples unfortunate experiences with outside organizations, I was hesitant initially. But something about the PRP3 project motivated me. However; let me share with you how I got there.
During the COVID quarantines of 2020, I began drawing and painting to keep my mind off the pandemic and as my skill level increased, I began to see it as a therapeutic outlet. Fastfoward three years later, I was invited to be apart of the PRP3 project. Like I said before, I was hesitant initially, but because I'd already had a portrait painting of a previous President, I decided to participate. But there was one problem: I decided to participate four days before the submission deadline.
So I immediately called a friend who just so happened to have the portrait that I painted of President Obama, we contacted Ms. Janie Ritter to ask for a deadline extension, but because I was a late submission, I was told that I had to send it ASAP because a judging committee were preparing to start judging. With no time to waste, my friend overnighted it and it was received on the day of the deadline. Since then, the the PRP3 project, along with my " Barack Hussain Obama " portrait, has taken on a life of it's own!
My experience with PRP3, the " Prison Re-imagined: Presidential Portrait Project" has been amazing, although I almost didn't participate. After all the years of hearing other peoples unfortunate experiences with outside organizations, I was hesitant initially. But something about the PRP3 project motivated me. However; let me share with you how I got there.
During the COVID quarantines of 2020, I began drawing and painting to keep my mind off the pandemic and as my skill level increased, I began to see it as a therapeutic outlet. Fastfoward three years later, I was invited to be apart of the PRP3 project. Like I said before, I was hesitant initially, but because I'd already had a portrait painting of a previous President, I decided to participate. But there was one problem: I decided to participate four days before the submission deadline.
So I immediately called a friend who just so happened to have the portrait that I painted of President Obama, we contacted Ms. Janie Ritter to ask for a deadline extension, but because I was a late submission, I was told that I had to send it ASAP because a judging committee were preparing to start judging. With no time to waste, my friend overnighted it and it was received on the day of the deadline. Since then, the the PRP3 project, along with my " Barack Hussain Obama " portrait, has taken on a life of it's own!
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment