The digital portrait series, ‘Justice For Our Lives’ responds to law enforcement killings of marginalized people by producing a portrait designs of the individual victims. As an open source project, the designs are set up on my website for anyone to download for free. They are encouraged to share these designs online, at demonstrations, in classrooms, art galleries, businesses and anywhere else that will promote conversations and action against police brutality as a result of their prejudice and racism. This project aims to serve as a tool for families who have lost loved ones to police violence and are seeking justice. Collaboration with the family members, activists, and organizers ensures that this artwork promotes active engagement in the community that is essential to producing art for social change. The simple black and white portraits are offered as templates to be manipulated and reproduced in any form allowing versatility in the ways these images are inserted into the struggle. In the classroom teachers are able to develop lesson plans using my art as a resource for their students. In art galleries, the viewers are able to engage with each portrait and the story behind them. Versatility and accessibility allows everyone to engage with this project in more than one way.
‘Justice For Our Lives’ was inspired by the rich history of art and political activism in The Bay Area. Since the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by the Oakland Police Department, the movement towards police accountability prompted artists like Dignidad Rebelde to remind us, with the production of their portrait series, that black & brown people killed by police mattered. Artist John Paul Bail exemplified the power of communal reproduction and sharing political art during public demonstrations like Occupy Oakland. In 2013, responding to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, the global call to end police terrorism on the black community was reignited by the #blacklivesmatter movement founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. As an individual art project, ‘Justice For Our Lives’, has developed from the foundation laid down by the countless artists, activists, and social movements that have emerged out of Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area.
-Oree Originol
‘Justice For Our Lives’ was inspired by the rich history of art and political activism in The Bay Area. Since the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by the Oakland Police Department, the movement towards police accountability prompted artists like Dignidad Rebelde to remind us, with the production of their portrait series, that black & brown people killed by police mattered. Artist John Paul Bail exemplified the power of communal reproduction and sharing political art during public demonstrations like Occupy Oakland. In 2013, responding to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, the global call to end police terrorism on the black community was reignited by the #blacklivesmatter movement founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. As an individual art project, ‘Justice For Our Lives’, has developed from the foundation laid down by the countless artists, activists, and social movements that have emerged out of Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area.
-Oree Originol