feature: the surrealist drawings of visual artist rohan clarke

Explore the work of Jamaican artist Rohan Clarke. The award winning artist, recognised for his surrealist pencil drawings, began focusing on art during a six month stint in prison and, in his own words, his body of work depicts “the artist’s story and life of most Africans living in the diaspora.” Check out the imaginative drawings below.

‘Deeper Than The Color Of My Skin’

* https://www.facebook.com/rohanclarkeart

The piece above inspired the following poem by Trina Emigh:

Deeper than the Shade of My Skin

It began with the voyage

From childhood to man

Innocent eyes

Lost ties

Too honest evaluation

Jaded shade pigmentation

Forsaken

History taken

My hope was chained and rope tied

From the coasts of Africa

To the land of freedom lies

Now in my soul my ancestors hide

And in my head my ancestors cry

Cannot let either go

For I’m noosed at the neck with the strength they cried

As I battle for a place that isn’t given

And respect that isn’t shown

Despite my success

A failure I am always known; infamously

Though I am famous on my own

And I repeat

Repeat

Repeat myself

Over and over again

With proof that I aim to win

No need to fit in

Or conquer your sin

For I am the man that helped the world begin

Now you might see pain in my eyes

Yet it’s not from lack of pride

It’s from the truth that I am denied

That you consciously keep repressing me

Distressing me

Second guessing me

Haven’t realised that I’m going to keep on redressing me

And GOD will continue blessing me

For behold the future lies in my hands

Cradling arms supporting

Unconditional love transporting

As you try to tear apart their undertaking

In pursuit of their spirit breaking

Unaware that I’ve prepared them

Declared them

Will repair them

Said a prayer for them

And their task

No questions asked

As I guide them to reject the mask

That you will portray them wearing

And sharing this responsibility

Right beside me stands the root

Of ever expanding possibility

Her fertility

Bears the seeds

That we need

To proceed; forward

As we walk through the valley of discrimination

Condemnation

Degradation

Searching for our own affirmations

We shall fear no evil

For God is our true salvation

So this cannot be stated often enough…

Your vision is blurred

Opinion skewed

By the way the shade of my skin is viewed

Stop getting it misconstrued

I’m DEEPER than that