We Fear What We Don't Understand/ Fear Is Your Only God (2020) Pintura por Unchained

This painting essentially deals with the issue of perception and the truths that we create in our head. My art is a reflection of my life, so this painting is created from an incident that happened to me awhile back.
It was winter and I was dressed in my normal winter gear. I stopped at Walgreens to get protein bars for work the next day. As I'm walking in a younger lady is walking out. She sees me and immediately gets nerves. She turns and sees the first white male she sees and says, "Can you please walk me to my car?!" The guy looks at her and then shoots me a dirty look. He says loudly, "Of course, you got the right one, I'm a former cop." For a minute, I was pissed. Mad because how dare you make so many assumptions about me without even knowing me. But then I came to the realization that this her perception. A truth created by media and today's rap culture. If your dressed like I was dressed..you're either a drug dealer, druggie, gangster, or just a common criminal. But I'm an art teacher....I change children's lives hopefully for the better. That is not my truth..that is my fact.
So essentially this painting is showing me stepping out of their perception of me and walking into my own reality. They are small and in the background because their viewpoint is meaningless to me. The building behind me is on fire, because in the past those situations really upset me. But now not so much. So in the foreground is this warehouse. Maybe where I've been pieced together and given a better sense of self. The people's shadows reflect their truths about me. Their truths can sometimes have deadly outcomes, depending on my reactions. The cop cars in the back reveal a truth that used to be embedded into me. But I've learned to not lump people into the same category without knowing them for who they are. The newspaper on the ground gives the definition of fear, and is symbolic for me throwing away my fear.
So this can relate to anyone no matter race, religion, political viewpoint..we all have our preconceptions of each other. This preconception drives a wedge between us and keeps us from being united. It leads to misunderstandings and misinformation...which ironically causes fear and hate. I'm just as guilty. But I've learned it's ok to have your personal truths as long as you are open minded enough to let those you harbor prejudices against the opportunity to tear them down.
The further apart we get...the closer we get to destroying yourself. I challenge you all to throw away your fear. Learn about others and realize that every race, religion and political group has evil individuals. But these individuals are not representative of the whole group.