"My works begin as small-scale, black-and-white graphite illustrations on cardboard with minimal color. I create a tangible texture through strokes and shading to give each piece volume and dimension. While my portraiture work is based in realism, my self-portraits and other works are presented through a lens of surrealism."
-Brian Tolbert
Pieces of Me
This piece illustrates how trauma led me to live a fragmented and dissociated life. For so long, different aspects of my identity were disconnected and often functioned independently of one another. This caused instability in relationships and led to a lot of people-pleasing.
2024
12" x 12" + frame
Graphite, painters tape on cardboard
$650
I Got Me
This piece illustrates my journey to manhood. As an adult, I’ve worked to heal my inner child and become the father figure I needed during my adolescent and teenage years. Everything I learned about "manhood" was learned on my own.
2024
11" x 8.5" + frame
Graphite on cardboard
$500
The Silence is So Loud
This piece illustrates my lifelong battle with depression and how I often appear to others while battling depressive episodes internally.
2024
32" x 32"
Acrylic, oil pastel, marker on canvas
$2,000
OOTD
"OOTD" (Outfit of the Day) represents what it felt like to live as a people-pleaser. People-pleasing caused me to choose which "face" I would wear in which space and on which day. On my journey to self, I’ve decided to no longer live to please others and instead focus on showing up authentically as myself in all spaces.
2024
8.5" x 11" + frame
Graphite on cardboard
$500
Light Benders
This piece captures one of my favorite photos of my wife and me on our wedding day. We had a small, intimate ceremony during COVID, where each of our parents spoke. During my father-in-law’s speech, he referred to us as "light benders."
2024
40" x 30"
Acrylic oil pastel, marker on canvas
$2,500
Escaping Awareness
2024
16" x 20"
Graphite on cardboard + frame
$800
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