We recently connected with Ernest Shaw and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ernest, thanks for joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I have been blessed to co-parent two wonderful beings/children. My daughter Asya was born in 1996 and my son Taj was born in 1999. My son Taj transitioned in April of 2008 from complication related to cancer. He had an astrocytoma on his brain and spinal cord. One evening as we were sleeping, my son screamed in agony due to the pain his brain tumor was causing him. I rushed to his side knowing there was nothing I could do to alleviate the pain and provide comfort. As I reached his bedside he began to apologize. I asked, befuddled, why are you apologizing? He said he was sorry that I, his father, had to go through this. While experiencing pain unimaginable, he stopped to think about me and what I must be going through as his father not being able to help him and knowing he would be transcending soon. To this day, I have not learned a more valuable lesson about kindness and compassion for others. In that moment I knew there was something greater than I. I am for ever grateful to that eight year old for teaching me life’s greatest lesson, to be of service.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am from West Baltimore and I was born in the late 1960’s. I was raised in a two parent household where both parents worked full-time to provide for me and two brothers. My elder sister, my dad’s daughter. grew up in a neighborhood close by. I was strongly influenced by my mother as I would sit at her feet and watch he paint when I was knee high to a grasshopper. At a very young age, I was exposed to the textures and smells of visual art materials and aesthetics. I shared a bedroom with an uncle and two brothers. My uncle was a musician which contributed to a very colorful upbringing. From a very early age I was cherry picked from my neighborhood and attended schools/programs for gifted and talented students. That put me on a trajectory to becoming an artist. As a young adult I embarked on the journey of studying traditional West African drum, dance, and culture. Combined with a classical training in the arts, HBCU education on the undergraduate and graduate levels, the training in African cultural art propelled me into a universe of aesthetic Afrodiasporic potentiality. I attempt to create a visual language that humanizes my subjects which happen to be mostly people who can be defined as Black. I take a similar approach to my work in the classroom. I provide a de-colonial atmosphere in the classroom.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn that gender exists on a spectrum, it is not binary. And I have my daughter, 28 years of age, James Baldwin, and my current students for helping me understand this truth. Growing up in the inner city during the 80’s and 90’s required that one carry themselves with a certain hardened spirit in order to survive the harsh, hyper masculine realities of the urban experience. Those same survival tactics, that were at one time useful and vital, often morphs into views, beliefs, and opinions that can be harmful to others as you grow into adulthood. This can happen sub/non-consciously. Unbeknownst to me I had developed an ideology that marginalized member of my community. I had to unpack that. My daughter, Baldwin, and my current students taught me to open my mind, lead with compassion, and seek deeper understanding in the lived experiences of all members of the global community. So I began to unpack…

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The definition of being human drives my creative journey. many of us define our identity with labels and categories that are a part of our social engineering. My goal is to re-frame ones understanding of the human experience acknowledging that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. Spirit has no race, gender, sex, ethnicity, nationality, orientation, height, weight, economic classification… This is not to say that all of those categories are irrelevant. It is to say that there is something that connects us all.

Contact Info:

• Website: eshawart.com
• Instagram: @eshaw_art
• Twitter: eshaw189