Kith Honors Black History Month – Kith Europe

Marlon Beck II: It’s a pleasure to be working with you as part of our third annual Black History Month Creative Series – tell me a little bit about yourself.

Madjeen Isaac: Thank you for inviting me to work and chat with y'all. I'm an artist – born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. I love creating from realms of my imagination, representing my hood and my loved ones. I’m just happy to be here.

Samuel Olayombo: I am a Nigerian artist. I studied fine and applied artsat the University of Benin, Nigeria. I am a lover of texture so I work with oils, acrylics, charcoal and pastels to create vibrant and dramatic large scale canvases of predominately male, non-gender normative portraits.

Foster Sakyiamah: My artistic journey started from my childhood. Growing up, my father was always sketching as an artisan, welder and a sprayer. I learnt so much from him in that regard. I subsequently enrolled as a student at the Ghanatta College Of Art & Design where I learned about modernist Ghanaian painters like Ablade Glover and had peers like Emmanuel Taku at the time. Later on, I opened a kiosk in a local part of Accra and named it Sakyiamah Art, basically selling art on the street for 11 years. During this period, I wasn’t married but my wife was my muse and would occasionally pose for me. Fast forward to August 2021, I met Joseph Awuah-Darko for the first time during a studio-visit he made on behalf of the Selection Committee at Noldor Artist Residency. From that point, my career took off in a flash as I was awarded a residency at the Noldor Artist Residency.

MB: Madjeen, being a first-generation Haitian-American in your family, many of your works tie back to your upbringing here in New York. In our early conversations at your studio, you mentioned your works are inspired by family memories and the cultures you grew up with that have also helped shape who you are today. How does this influence your process?

MI: I started developing my work after a trip I took to Haiti with my family in the summer of 2017. I often traveled to Haiti throughout my childhood, however during that summer, I was much older and truly observed the landscape. I was taken aback at how Port-au-Prince, Haiti felt similar to Flatbush, Brooklyn. It was charged with merchants and commuters and the hustle and bustle of it all was a mesmerizing yet a familiar experience. It made me think about Caribbean immigrants in Brooklyn who developed communities and family-owned businesses such as markets, restaurants, bakeries, publictransportation and churches to feel settled and established in what is now home.

Most of my paintings reference my community and loved ones living and engaging in my reimagined environments. I take elements from Brooklyn, Haiti and fictional landscapes to pay homage to how we take up space and the melting pot ofCaribbean cultures I’ve always been exposed to throughout my upbringing.

One of my favorite things to do as a child was look through my parent’s box of photographs. There were photographs of my parents in Haiti, their first time in the states, my siblings and I, celebrations and candid moments with extendedfamily during the 90s/2000s. Aside from the excitement of sifting through hundreds of photographs and the smell of old film, I really enjoyed feeling nostalgia and seeing the world through their eyes. My parents were lowkey photographerswhile navigating a new world.

During my trip to Haiti in 2017, I took a lot of photos that I still pull references from. These days, I take photos of my neighborhood and during my daily commute. I like capturing trimmings of pre-war architecture, passerby's, the block,sunsets and greenery. During the pandemic, I purchased a film camera that I would take with me during my family's annual camping trips and outings with friends.

Whether I am painting or taking photos, I feel like I’m building a visual archive for future generations to look back at.