Artist Spotlight: R. Spence EL
About Robert:
Age: 53 years old
Sentence Length: 60 to 71 year sentence
Where he calls home: Holly Springs, North Carolina
An artist he's inspired by: There are a lot of artists that inspire me in and out of prison, but I am a fan of Dali, Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and other artists. But I fell in love with contemporary portraiture of this decade.
A goal he has for the future: The goals I have set for my work is to inspire those who see my work to feel my voice, to understand what I felt doing it. Also, I would like to go into art therapy to help people use their creative abilities to work out life's problems.
What he hopes people will take away from his work: I hope that people can feel the love I put into the piece.
What it's like to make art on the inside: Doing art in prison has been a gift and a curse. The plus is that you create beautiful works of art while in a contained environment. The negative is that you are limitedin what you can do.
Why he chose Lincoln as a portrait subject: I chose Abe Lincoln as my subject because being a man of hue, I can relate to what he was trying to do for my people.
What he's working on now: I work every day perfecting my craft by doing life drawings attempting to capture the emotions of being in prison.
In his own words:
First, my name is Robert Spence El. I'm a Moorish artist and describe my art as abstract expression. I love using any media to convey a sense of love and hope in my work. Also, to give an awareness of issues socially and through my experiences. Because when I first got in prison, and even at home, I felt I didn't have a voice. So my talent gave me that voice to speak about things through my artwork. That's why I did the piece "Honest Abe what happened? ". I thought about being in prison and the social events that were going on, and I created that piece.
My artist name is R. Spence EL.
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