A selection of mixed media drawings using charcoal and acrylic paint by artist Jesse Howard. Combining imagery from news reports, as well as his own experiences and observations of issues like homelessness and the rising movement for Black Lives, Howard’s portraits are “charged with a spark of empathic intensity” that aims to engage viewers’ sorrow, anger, and resistance.

“In the past several years I have embodied a particular moment in time, sourced from media imagery of outrage and protest. I am sensitive as well as an observer of African-American portrayal by a white-centric media. My observations coupled with my studies within my community, I’m driven to create a distinctive figure poised between portraiture and social commentary. My figures are often solitary and distorted. They speak to being disenfranchised or homeless, as being barely visible.”

See more images below.