BLK Rising by Paul Branton

Artist Insights:  This image celebrates black perseverance and resiliency through four different figures.   The main figure rising with the sun symbolizes that despite dark periods in our lives, we will always rise. That is why “Rise” and “Now” are etched into the painting.  The smaller figure to the bottom left has gone through the fire as evidenced by the smoke coming from her hair as she rises. The youthful figure has learned from the previous generations and rides that wave onward and upward. The fourth image is more subtle, as they swim to the surface within the larger image symbolizing that our only course is upward and onward.