“INFINITE WAR”
Acrylic on cotton
59” x 35”
2025
I got the opportunity to display some artwork and speak at a showcase and fundraising event put on by Heartland Arts KC. I had plans in mind on what I wanted to create and present, but I was nudged by an old idea crossing with a new one, as well as… the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
You see, a while back (late 2020) I was playing with a compass and drawing some circles (as one does). This page had no idea what it was in for when I was just drawing circles and lines… and I didn’t either.
I can’t remember if I went in with the intention of doing an ouroboros or not, but the hourglass was definitely found along the way, as well as the woven ribbons and negative/positive space illusion.
At the time I loved the idea, but never followed through with any applications. I remember multiple occasions where I stumbled back across it in my notebook and danced with the idea again, only to eventually rebury it in the folds of a tracing paper pad.
Fast forward: 2023.
A mutual artist friend gives me his leather jacket to paint on. I teeter between “hmm what should I do on this jacket” and *jacket is out of sight and therefor does not exist* for almost a year. Friend wants the jacket back. I say “wait give me one more month bro trust me”. Painted the jacket. Hip hip hooray we all celebrate and share candy and exchange crisp high fives.
I really enjoyed that project. I have done LOTS of screen printing, and always appreciated clothing as a canvas that walks around. I hadn’t done anything to a garment in a while and it scratched an itch. I dropped the jacket off on a Sunday morning after poorly babysitting it for 11 months, and got a nudge to see if I could find another leather canvas to play with. City Thrift gifted me with a clean, genuine leather jacket that fit me perfectly in exchange for $25 (fuck yea).
I played with the idea of doing a chiefs design on it and doing some kind of raffle for it, along with other ideas. I went through my archive box and pinned a few drawings to my wall. The snake spoke to me once again and I gave it red and blue. It didn’t pick a side, and instead hid in the void between. I taped the transparency paper that held this invigorated symbol to the wall above my desk, and it spoke louder than before.
the red exists within the blue
the blue exists within the red
forever
chained together
I reside between the two
at war
“my team is better than your team”
she said, even though she didn’t care
he disagreed but acted cool
snake bite snake bite
After playing with the design in photoshop, I realized that the red and blue works best on white. The colors of leather paint I had wouldn’t quite be what I wanted on a black jacket, so the snake was still yet to find a fitting home. I showed some friends and family the design, which is always a good way to elicit conversation and discussion on an idea and its potential applications. This iteration resonated with almost everyone I showed, and the snake spoke new ideas to new eyes.
Around this time, a group of artists that I am part of was planning a showcase/fundraiser for the organizer’s non-profit organization. We would each get time to present, whether it was visual or performance art, with the goal of soliciting donations from the audience. I had a plan to present some digital art that I was working on, and to talk about how I was able to use AI to bring motion to an old series of work. AI didn’t generate the art, but instead generated the code that then generated the art.
This was the plan, and what I was working on until the end of the Super Bowl halftime show. Kendrick has always been a favorite of mine. His work changed the way I view music and art in general. He achieves so much depth that you don’t see very often in mainstream music. Since before the ‘beef’, I saw Kendrick as a symbol of the pure Artist, while Drake was a totem of the opposite end of the spectrum. A manufactured character that acts as a business. To me, that is what the performance was really about. Not a beef between two musicians, but two perspectives. The symbolic play with American motifs in combination with the already existing war between Kendrick and Drake made for a mind blowing show.
Even though the Chiefs were half-way through the ass whooping of the decade, I was satisfied after the Halftime performance. My mind was spinning, and I had great conversations about it as the rest of the game went on.
When I got home, I saw the snake again and it danced as though the halftime show was ancient knowledge. I finally knew what to do. I had already thought about putting the snake design on a flag, but didn’t consider making it a commentary on The United States of America. Once I saw the vision in my head I immediately began figuring out how I would execute on this concept.
I looked around for an American flag that I could bleach. In theory, a 100% cotton flag would be able to be bleached to pitch white. What I didn’t think about was the weatherproof coating that would protect the flag from my plot to steal its colors. I got the flag and filled a bucket with hot water and bleach. I soaked the flag for 5 minutes at a time, with each repetition being more disappointing than the last. I threw a towel in the bleach, thinking the bleach might be old, but it went to pitch white after a single 5 minute swim. Shit.
This added HOURS to the project. I went to BLICK the next day for some water based screen printing ink, mainly because I have used it many times before, and I could use heat to lock the ink into the fabric. I got to work with a sponge brush and a layer of cardboard beneath to avoid painting my carpet as well. The cardboard supported about 1/6 of the area of the flag, and each section took about 3 or 4 layers of ink to get to my desired whiteness. With a concrete deadline creeping, I worked late into the night after my shifts at work. No creativity here, just grunt work and music.
Once I was satisfied, I borrowed a projector from a friend, and rebuilt the design in illustrator so that I could then trace it on the wall. Bing bop boom boom boom bop bam, the red and blue found their way back on the flag in a new form.
I build a backing out of wood, and used command strips to attach the flag. It turned out great, and made for some excellent conversations at the Heartland Showcase event.
“AS ABOVE, SO BELOW” (Copy)
“As Above, So Below”
Acrylic leather paint on leather jacket
2024
Tad Michael and I met through mutual artist friends some time in 2022. When I put out a form to submit artwork for my 2023 gallery events, he was one of the first to submit. That was the first time outside of mutuals that we collaborated, and he was able to see the way that I work and my eye for aesthetics.
Later that year after all of the events were done and over with, he shot me a project proposal that seemed like a fun change of pace.
I got the jacket and spent some free time here and there playing with potential ideas for its design. After a while, it ended up in my closet. There wasn’t any timeline on it, and I had a few large scale projects that were bubbling up for the upcoming year.
The whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing won big time, and I didn’t put a grain of thought into the jacket for months. There were moments where I saw it and felt guilty, and then did nothing about it. Classic!
Life got wild in 2023. I lost a close friend, left my relationship, left my job, fell short of goals, had to abandon my event series, and overall experienced a RESET. I had to move to my mom’s house, cause the house that my dad and I lived in got shot at, with bullets flying right over my head, peppering my bedroom with drywall and instability.
Sob sob excuse excuse fast forward to November, and I got a text from Tad
I was in a spot where I was sick of my tendency to start something and not just close the fucking project. So many half finished ideas filled my world, and left me feeling like a piece of shit. I saw that he really wanted it and shot for a rally. He trusted me still, even after having his jacket for almost a year, and I got to work soon after.
Fun fact: The whole time I had the thing, I never had the right paints, so even if inspiration did strike, I wouldn’t have a way to do anything about it. I got some paints, and guess what… I painted.
I had been playing with this style throughout the previous year and a half or so, and specifically got feedback from Tad on an instagram post that he loved the first one (white on black with the faces within the large face), so I took that as the first step in painting the jacket. Once the face shape was down, I was able to feel what I wanted to do. A line would come from above the figure, flow through the mind in a curly line, shaping a brain, then going down below the figure (representing heart or ground), bouncing around down there in an angular style, then coming back up and out through the mouth as a heartbeat. You might be thinking, “there is no way that just popped into your head,” and that is a valid thought. With that being said when I get rolling on an idea, I just let the creative spirit do its thing. I have learned through many projects and ideas to trust it fully, and to play with my tools with childlike liberty. Art comes from the space in between our body and mind. We can’t directly manipulate this space, but it moves us. If you trust it, you will find amazing things coming from your own hands.
As you can see, at this point there were still pencil marks and jagged lines, but the concept is down and I was loving it.
While I was in the process of painting this, I was also reading The Stranger by Albert Camus with my friends in our book club. Camus’ writing is layered with complex themes, motifs, and plot points that weave together into some kind of commentary or observation of human nature. One of the talking points after the first half of the book was this idea of “As above, so below”. The little motifs that repeat, and narrative patterns that thread through the story also cast over the entirety of the story. For example, there is a part where a group is walking down a long path, and one character keeps going off of the path into the grass. This character was much slower than the rest of the group, but would end up appearing back ahead of everyone else, before doing the same thing again. Falling behind, going off the path, ending up ahead. This tells us that the path everyone else is following is winding back and forth, and the shortcuts are more of a straight line to the destination. What I saw in my head was a sin wave being intersected by a line. We discussed that this shape existed elsewhere in the story. Not physically, but shown in relationships between characters. They would attract each other then push away in a cycle. Meursault, the main character, acted as the straight line, while his mom, or his partner, or his neighbor acted as the sin wave. Eventually this push pull breaks away, and the lines depart for good, which is also seen in the walking path scene. This shape or idea projects onto other aspects of the story. As above, so below.
This concept was presented by my friend Rosbel, who is a grad student studying migration policy. He speaks often about how systems and their form that structure a society reflects on the people within it, and the people in a society shape the systems. This concept has broad applications and I like the thought spaces that it takes me to.
In the artwork on the jacket, the line that comes down into the head curves counterclockwise, and the same is the case below. You can read into that idea as it reflects on the jacket for yourself. I have a couple of interpretations, and every element was intentional, but I’m sure others will find their own ideas and stories.
After getting it all finished, I dropped it off to Tad and his reaction was priceless. It was somehow worth the year long wait, and that feeling of closing a project was topped off with a big smile from a very satisfied customer!
“UH HUH WE KNOW”
Music video [Gee Watts]
Fujifilm X-T4 50-140mm f/2.8, Insta360 OneRS 1-inch Edition
2024
I met Gee Watts through a mutual in the creative world here in KC. I was aware of his music and some of his story, but it wasn’t until we chatted on FaceTime that the ball started rolling. He was finishing up a mixtape at the time and wanted some visuals to compliment the music. We talked about our mentalities within the arts and enjoyed getting to know each other’s styles and stories. Because of his legacy in KC, I thought it would be a mutually beneficial project without involving any pay. “I’ll keep it simple” I thought, so that I didn’t spend too much time on something that would be free. In my head I would have people reaching out left and right after this dropped.
One ting about me though is that I can’t let things be just OK. After listening to the project for the first time, this “Uh Huh, We Know” track caught my attention for its psychedelic soundscape and smooth flow. I immediately saw black and white, vast shots in an open landscape, and frames within frames.
After a few weeks, I pitched a more refined plan to Watts, and he was very excited by it. I got to work producing the video. I landed on the Flint Hills in Kansas, and found some land that we would have freedom to roam and utilize. I picked out a lens for my dad’s camera to rent, as well as a gimbal. We got our schedules lined up and picked a date. We linked up with Made Mobb for some garments that would compliment the energy I wanted to create. It was cool to go into their backroom and see 1/1 pieces and unfinished ideas.
I started thinking about every possible scenario. We would be shooting long shots, so I got some Walkie Talkie’s for communication and long distance direction. The forecast was teetering between nice and pouring rain. 2 nights before the shoot it was pretty confidently going to rain most of the day. I shot a text to Watts, saying “if the forecast changes and we deal with rain the whole time, id still like to shoot (rain or shine like they say). It would make for some epic shots, and I am bringing supplies to have a rain-proof camera setup.” I gathered rain jackets, trash bags, and zip ties that could be put together as a means to protect the equipment.
Shoot day arrives and I’m up super early to cross t’s and dot i’s. On my way to pick up Watts, it was pouring still, and I saw cars on the side of the road that had slipped out of control. I was listening to gospel, which is something I don’t usually do, but something pushed me in that direction. An epic moment in one of the songs brought me to tears, and a few minutes later, the sun cracked through the clouds for the first time that morning. After picking up Watts, we had about an hour long drive to the shoot location, which was filled with excellent conversations and stories. By the time we got there, the rain was behind us which left the sky overcast, which was fantastic for the lighting in the shots.
Directing this was a lot of fun. Turning the flint hills into a canvas was like a playground of opportunities. We saw strange trees that we bookmarked for the end of the day, birds and other creatures that ruled this land, and a carving path through the hills that would be a loose guide for the day. It was an adventure in every sense of the word, with unknown discoveries, side quests, and a goal in mind that would not be compromised by any circumstance. 2 or 3 hours after arriving, I felt satisfied with what we had. We packed the car back up, hit the road, stopped at Braums for a burger and some downtime, and headed home.
I started playing with the footage instantly. I say play literally because I didnt have a (this is shot 1a, 4b blah blah blah). I didnt realize that the last shot we got, (the profile shot of watts rapping, and looking at the camera when he says the song title) would be the center of the piece. I also at the time didnt know that I would end up scheduling a second shoot in the city with Watts, and then a third by myself for some extra shots (only one of which I would use, but it made a big difference). If I had to guess, I put at least 40 hours into the edit. So much for keeping it simple.
Side note: yes the mix is bad. Watts said it was mastered which I had no choice but to roll with at the time, but now when I watch the video it is hard to ignore. I still think it is a cool piece of art, and a great first music video for me.
LATE BLOOM FEST
Late Bloom Fest was the test run. I pitched a multimedia first Fridays event to Chef Bradley Gilmore one night after a serving shift. The idea had been sprouting since I started at the restaurant a year prior because I fell in love with the event space above Lula Southern Cookhouse. The location was perfect for a First Fridays event; not too far from the crossroads with plenty of foot traffic on Main Street. Chef was down with the vision and helped me with some of the planning and funding. We had no idea if it would work, but decided that if it did, we would do another 2 that summer.
The goal was to do first Fridays justice: To put art and artists at the forefront of the event, to attract a younger generation of artists here in Kansas City, and to tie the Lula Southern Cookhouse brand to creativity and refreshing new ideas.
The first order of business was to find the artists that I would be hosting in the gallery. I created an instagram post to snag some attention from my following:
”Let your inner child hold the paintbrush. Let them grab the wrong lens and run with it. Guide them and let them guide you.
We want to show Kansas City the power of the young artist. All of these galleries have old money and routine ways of thinking. Lets break the mold and never go back.
Submit artwork to the Diggs Visual Gallery. This is a curated gallery, and we will be picky, but we know the power of the artist. Rise up to the challenge.”
I also spent a lot of time at various art events around the city, handing out little cards to artists and vendors that I thought would be a good fit for the event. This is where I met 2 of the 6 artists.
One day while serving a table of 10 or 12 people at Lula, I spotted a canvas with its back turned to the light next to a young woman. I poked at what it might be and if it was her work or a gift from someone else. After seeing the piece, I gave her the rundown of what I was trying to do, and got her email after she expressed interest. 3/6
The other 3 came from my instagram post, where they followed the link in my bio and filled out the submission form. The post says “we will be picky,” and when it comes to the people that I spoke to, I definitely was sparse where I showed interest. With that being said, I was lucky to have the 5 that I did with the way that I was going about it. I essentially was hoping that my idea was enough to attract people to my submission form, instead of being the one to send out emails and push for others to be part of my idea.
While on the hunt for artists and vendors, I was also working on the visual presentation of the event. The poster, flyers, Instagram posts, and even some merch that I would sell at the event. This was the part where I was in my zone. After years of designing for other people, I got to have full creative freedom with my own big project. I love the style that I came up with for Late Bloom Fest.
This idea really came together from nothing at all. I had never hosted an event, curated a gallery, dealt with the logistics, or sent so many emails in the span of 2 months.
Artists started to drop off the work that I accepted from their submissions and I began putting things on the ground to figure out where they would be in relation to each other. Some of the art didn’t have mounting hardware, so I had to get that situated. One of the collections in particular was painted on sheets of drywall. I couldn’t drill into it, so I had to get creative with the mounting setup. This ended up being a project that was not done until the night before the event. I made some frames out of wood with a pocket hole jig, and attached them to the drywall with a bunch of heavy duty command strips. I got back to Lula, put them on, got them on the wall, and headed back home for some much needed sleep.
The event ended up being amazing. The foot traffic was impressive and people seemed to have a good time being there. The vendors made sales, artists made connections, and I got to float around high on hard work and make sure that everything was running smoothly. I had help from friends and family that helped make everything run smoothly.
Lessons:
When seeking collaboration, giving out my contact information did not have as good of a turnover as writing down theirs. There are a lot of people that seemed genuinely interested in participating but I never got an email from them.
Require that art already has mounting hardware, or charge to have it put on.
Passers by that interacted with he vendor space did not know about the gallery inside. I needed a way to communicate that the event had 2 parts. The vendors were just a way to make money so that the art could be untouched by the gravity of the dollar.
This idea works, so I can put more energy into the details.
“LETGO” SHORT FILM
This was the final for my intro to film class. The general assignment did not interest me, but the professor said that we could pitch alternate ideas to her and run with them after approval. After that class period was over, I approached her with my pitch: “Challenge me.”
After the following session of FMS200, my professor, Tonia Hughes had the challenge prepared for me. The assignment was one that she was given in grad school at Georgia State University: Create a short film where the script is exclusively that of a children's book, but that conveys an adult narrative.
I began with Æsop's fables, and even created an entire pitch based on this lead. After lots of reading and brainstorming, I realized that (1) the fables were too short for a final project, (2) the narratives were already pretty ‘adult’, and (3) I had no lasting spark during my hours of reading. Back to the drawing board. It was impossible to even start without having a book picked out. I went to some bookstores and sat in the kids section, reading entire books (only the ones with lots of pictures) and even purchased a few. Those still didn’t get my mind moving like I was hoping. It began to set in that I got the challenge that I asked for.
Later in the week, feeling like I was falling behind, I got a library card and plopped down criss cross applesauce in the kids section. I felt a bit crazy but it didn’t take long for my worries of external perception to go away. Book after book, picture after picture, concept after concept, it all slipped past without the “Aha!” moment I was hoping for. I left the first time with nothing and planned to go back the next day.
I can’t remember if it was just 2 visits or more, but even just 2 visits to the library was more for me than the previous 4 years combined. I never considered myself a reader, as I excelled in the left-brain subjects. In 2nd-5th grade, me and one other student were separated from the rest of the class during English to work with a different teacher. We read slowly and doubled down on simple grammar rules. Even if that was helpful, it created a story in my mind that I hate reading which followed me through high school and beyond.
One night, I went back to the library after eating a gram or so of psychedelic mushrooms. I don’t know if this helped at all, but after at least an hour if not more, I left with 2 books. One was a “Baa Baa Black Sheep” picture book. The nursery rhyme painted pictures in my head immediately. I have always felt like a black sheep; like I don’t fit in. I am biracial, and was homeschooled until second grade. When I entered public school I noticed the feeling that I didn’t fit in with the white kids or the black, and ended up with one or two friends at a time who were also black sheep. The other aspect of the story that brushed my brain with color was the repeated call for more wool, followed by an obedient “Yes miss, yes miss, 3 bags full.” This giving until there was nothing left added depressed blues and angry reds to the canvas in my mind.
The other book I grabbed was a novel called “Elsewhere” by Alexis Schaitkin. The book earned its visit to my apartment with a beautiful cover, and a hope that it might take me elsewhere. You see, while in the brainstorming phase of this project, I was dealing with loneliness, specifically in the vein of family. I couldn't escape the feeling that we were fragmented, and pulling further apart as time goes on. In exploring this feeling, I recall scrolling through my father's Instagram, which to my surprise, went all the way back to 2011. Many of the images and captions offered trips of nostalgia and unlocked memories that had been covered in dust for years. One photo in particular broke through an emotional threshold. An image of my older sibling me, while I was holding my younger sibling, while my younger sibling held the star which was to be placed on top of the Christmas tree. I cried HARD and was left feeling empty… so yes, I wanted this “Elsewhere” book to take me away.
Unfortunately, Three Little Diggs (as my mom would say) have grown apart in multiple ways. My younger sibling moved to California for school, and my older sibling moved to Ohio to live with an online friend. Both of them have transitioned, and changed their names and identities. I respect their decisions and will fight anyone who doesn’t, but I must admit that I am left with some pain, missing the sisters that I grew up with. It is a weird thing to deal with, and to this day I know that I need to talk to them about these feelings. I just haven’t had the balls to start that conversation.
In embracing my inner child, trying to hold him tight in a storm of confusing feelings, I started on a film that explores youthful activities as an escape from the adult world. Playing games and building legos are seen as immature, and are often shunned by other “adults,” so we strip our own joys away and drink instead. What is the difference between childish and childlike? Should we embrace the adult world and forget the child we once were, or let them lead from time to time?
There are some obvious flaws with the film, but I dont see myself going back and reshooting it. I would rather move on to new things.
Fun fact: during the making of this film, I read that “Elsewhere” book from cover to cover, making it the first novel I read in full since the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. This assignment helped me realize that I enjoy reading.
APPAREL DESIGN
I built screens and a one screen press out of wood during covid. Screen printing brought my ideas into reality and let them walk around. It also put me in conversations with many artists, businesses, and brands. Here is an archive of designs that I created (most of which I also ended up printing).
