I, Kayla Je'wel Lucas, am a 23-year-old visual artist from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As a young teenager in the South awakened to systematic oppression, racism, and Black radicalism, I became passionate about fostering my voice to support the advancement of Black American people. As an introvert spending much of my free time drawing and ideating, I decided to take a drawing class at my alma mater, R J Reynolds High.
There, I created a powerful drawing using a stippling technique to juxtapose a Black woman with a luscious afro and an oak tree. This simple drawing spoke volumes to the values of Black beauty and pride that I developed and revealed to me the power of my creative mind.
I continued to explore my creative abilities and found myself with constant customers paying for custom-painted sneakers and clothing, leading me to open my own business, Black Jewels, at 17.
As business and my thirst for knowledge and self-expression grew, by the peak of COVID-19 in 2020, Black Jewels was a lifestyle brand committed to designing products to uplift and celebrate Black American people and culture.
When I wasn't running business operations, I found solace in oil painting. Finding myself obsessed with the Black female identity and form, I discovered my muse. Shortly after the unrest ignited by the murder of George Floyd in 2020, I created "Working Woman", a response offering the perspectives and experiences of Black women during the period. This piece became the cover of Black Oak Society Volume 6: Black Power/ Black Politics. It also won me numerous grants such as the Wake County United Arts Council Grant and the Charlotte is Creative HUG Grant.
Currently, I am a Graphic Design student at the University of Charlotte, serving as artist-mentor for 8th-grade students at Governor's Village STEM Academy through Lorien Academy, and building my body of work in preparation for my first solo show.
