April 8 - May 13, 2005

My art is one created through the use and motivation of three of my main passions: my love of art, my love of music, and my love of history--in particular African and African-American history. I love to tell stories through the use of symbols. I think four of my biggest influences--Jacob Lawrence, El Creco, Miles Davis, and Paul Gaugin--have taught and convinced me that interesting stories can be told in a visually expressive and highly individual style without the use of the written word. These artists among the countless others that I admire (like Picasso, Charles White, Van Gogh, William H. Johnson, Romare Bearden, Lois Jones, Archibald Motley, George Hunt, Jean Michel Basquiat to musicians John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Run DMC, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Holwing Wolf, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and 2pac) remind me through their prolific outputs that research is one of the most important ingredients in forming your own artistic voice. Before I create a series of related artworks I dive deeply into the subject(s) of my choice through the use of books, movies (documentaries), music, and discussions with people who are connected to the subject(s). These tasks take me countless hours to perform, but I honestly feel that taking the time to collect and analyze the information made me a better artist as well as a better human being. In this way I feel artists are like synthesizers, taking in all the foreign information and materials, mixing it with the artists' experiences and knowledge, and then compressing it into a product made in the artists' likeness or image based on the artists' own ideas and philosophies. All great art to me seems to be those works that have substance and tell unwritten as well as written stories that are to be retold and reinterpreted for years to come. Hopefully my dedication to my art will continue to lead me in this direction.

-- Ronald Cortez Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2

To see more work from Ron Herd, visit his website at http://www.r2c2h2.com/.