All Things Genevieve

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I Didn't Study Basquiat to Paint Like Him—I Studied What It Cost Him

I didn't study Basquiat to learn how to paint like him. I studied him to understand what it cost him to create under the kind of pressure that breaks people—racism, being treated like a commodity, an art world that wanted his work but didn't actually want to hear him.

He died at 27. The art world consumed him.

So I made these two healing dolls from a watercolor I painted and a VANS box collage—because street art, accessibility, all of that mattered to him. The dolls are part of my practice of witnessing and caring for artists the system failed.

"Under pressure, out of time." Those are his own words. That was his reality as a young Black artist trying to survive in a white-dominated art world that saw him as a product, not a person.

Your Difference is Your MAGIC

This is Max's story. And maybe it's your story too. Max goes to school every day and feels different. Tortured, actually. The other kids say he's "wrong" for not being like them. And then one day, he gets pushed in line and he's just had enough. But here's the thing—when Max stands up, he sees something nobody else is seeing. The kid who pushed him? Also in pain. Also struggling. Also trying to survive in a world that says sameness is the only way to be safe. So Max does something radical. He summons the bravery to say what everyone needs to hear: "Sameness is wrong. Differences are magic." I made this story because I've watched kids get told they're "too much" or "not enough" just for being themselves. I wanted to create something that says: You're not wrong. You were never wrong. Your difference is the magic. This is watercolor and prose—an art journey told through images and words, narrated by me, celebrating every kid who's ever felt like an outsider. For parents, teachers, and anyone who works with kids: This is a conversation starter. A permission slip for children to be exactly who they are. For anyone who was that different kid: This one's for you. You made it. And your magic is real.

What Do You Do When You're Mourning and Celebrating at the Same Time? You Make Art.

January 2021: We lost RBG and gained Kamala Harris as our first female VP. And we were all locked down, isolated, scared.

How do you hold grief and celebration at the same time? How do you make meaning in the middle of a pandemic?

I created healing dolls—one for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one for Kamala Harris—and designed crowns. My collaborator Anna Ryan Drew painted clothing. Together we produced a socially distanced fashion show during COVID lockdown.

This is the Crown On Initiative—art as a way to hold what our bodies can't hold alone. Art as a way to rise together, even when we're apart.

For every woman who paved the way. For every woman stepping into power now. For all of us learning to honor loss and hope at the same time.