Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Portraits of black expression
Alifetime of experiencing microaggressions had left Shereene Fogenay feeling she could not fully express herself.
“If I’m passionate, I get called angry,” the Las Vegas artist explains. “If I express knowledge, I’ve been told I’m ‘really smart for a black person.’ As I got older, I didn’t feel comfortable showing emotion because it comes off different when you are a person of color.”
With watercolor, ink and water-soluble pencils, Fogenay creates portraits of black expression, assigning real and complex emotions to her characters.
In her painting “He Looks Up,” Fogenay used watercolor to depict a man craning his neck to gaze upward, as though looking for something more. She was inspired by the vulnerability she sees in the men in her life. Since she painted it, the image has taken on new meaning for Fogenay.
“I feel like it’s relevant today because this piece shows that this man is vulnerable,” Fogenay says. “In connection to police brutality, these men are most likely not criminals. This man loves his family and is trying to provide, like anybody else.”
In the past two years working at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Fogenay has learned more about Japanese art than she did while studying art at the College of Southern Nevada.
In delving deeper into Japanese artwork, she found connections to themes and practices that artists use today.
“By looking at work of other artists, you’re opening your horizons to their ideals,” Fogenay says. “In discovering other cultures, you’re inherently understanding yourself.”