Bakari Davis
Artist Statement: I am a visual artist, musician, and poet. I tell hidden stories through my art/writing that need to be revealed in this society we live in. This project, Najja, reflects self-discovery and spiritual healing; a vision that embodies the seeds to stars theme of growth, ancestral energy and survival of the indigenous people. I am my ancestors, using sacred energy and spiritual intuition to approach life situations, the collective bond, and the roots, just as nature interconnects everything in the cosmos. I am interested in compassion, diversity, and the universal experiences of humanity that can move us out of racism with collectively open hearts and a deep attachment to nature. Pushing beyond physical life, I want my work to challenge you and make you think deeper. I integrate my journeys across the world and the unknown with sound and colors, storytelling about my senses. My art shows my memories of the past, present and future.
Artist Bio: Bakari Davis is a musician, storyteller, healer, traveler and visual artist who was raised in Northwest America by a single mother of two that occasionally moved around due to financial issues. Life was too volatile and in perpetual displacement for Bakari who was conditioned to spend his childhood in 6 different cities and over 10 schools for him to identify with any place he can call home. Racism, equity, toxicity, injustice; he has witnessed them all since the onset of his being. There was nothing there to hold on to except telling stories in his head, wandering outside alone and building a solid relationship with nature. He depended on pre-technology indigenous history that channeled his energy to approach his life situations using his ancestral knowledge within a limited circumference of reality. That was not enough, for there had to be something that bonded humankind to the roots, as nature interconnects everything in the cosmos! In that unpredictable journey without an influential figure in place, there was only the road and nature to rely on; and the pen and paper to tell the story; the challenges, emotions, surprises and expectations as they manifested themselves in his infantile solitude. Yet, he had to be a role model for his younger brother who was growing faster than other kids. Bakari was destined to adopt love, patience and perseverance from the mother; empathy and responsibility from the brother. He found compassion, diversity and universalism out of racism that collectively opened the heart with a deep attachment to nature and exploring other cultures and human conditions around the world. His favorite subjects as a kid were writing and art, hidden talents that exploded in time as his mind kept on reflecting self-discovery and spiritual healing that had to be communicated in original musical format and diaspora art. Bakari stands relaxed and in control to share his cumulative concept of existence in the universal podium of ART!