Genesis Tramaine
In Conversation with Phong H. Bui
“It's important to remember that the black narrative, unfortunately, has often been given to the world through a lens that is not our own. So it makes sense that my work may seem to be out of context when comparing it with how we’ve traditionally been allowed to be seen or shown. I disagree with much of the imagery that's been fed to me. I literally draw and paint over it. It's wrong. So instead, I say ‘Use me, Lord, I’ll help them see the truth, because this is some bullshit.’”
— Genesis Tramaine
On the occasion of Genesis Tramaine's fifth solo exhibition 'SWEET JESUS!' at Almine Rech Paris, the artist had a talk with Phong H. Bui, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Brooklyn Rail in Tramaine's studio.
Genesis Tramaine (b. 1983) is an expressionist devotional painter who creates abstract portraits of men and women who transcend gender, race, and social structures. She digests the everyday and regurgitates it as work that evokes déjà vu, beckoning memories of past lives and glimpses of undiscovered futures. The blueprint of Genesis’ style is rooted in strong mix of 1980’s urban New York graffiti, and imagined images of gospel hymns sung on Sunday morning during church.
Tramaine paints with a confrontational and provocative use of color and through an urban-inspired, mixed-media approach. The artist describes her practice as focused on the shape and definition of the American Black Face, explaining that her subject’s exaggerated features capture the spirited emotions of the untapped, underrepresented soul of Black people through a mixture of acrylic and oil-based paintings.
Tramaine’s work is also powerfully influenced by Bible verses and other readings she studied in church. Her spiritual influences have a strong impact on the composition and depth of her paintings, which explore deeply human themes including ethics and insanity, the mundane and the inhumane, spirituality, sexuality, and sentimentality.
