We Shall Not Be Moved draws from the visual language of Black protest, resistance, and political consciousness while considering how those histories continue to inhabit the contemporary figure.

The collection takes its title from the language of the Civil Rights Movement. In the title work, the raised fist and the words we shall not be moved make that history explicit. In Activist, the reference becomes less declarative: the Afro, inseparable from its emergence as a powerful expression of Black identity and political consciousness during the 1960s and 70s, carries much of the historical memory. Objector moves further into ambiguity. Inspired in part by imagery from Childish Gambino’s This Is America, the figure turns away, transforming protest from declaration into a more uncertain gesture of refusal.

These works are not intended as illustrations of particular political moments. They draw upon images that have accumulated meaning through history and popular culture, allowing them to operate within the present.

Across the collection, protest shifts from symbol to appearance to posture. What remains constant is the figure as a place where history, identity, and the decision to resist continue to reside.