Behind the Prints is an ongoing interview series with the artists and photographers behind the Young Hero fundraising initiative Prints For Action.
First up is Xander Opiyo. Young Hero had a conversation with the multidisciplinary artist and recent college graduate about his process and background.
Selected Organization: Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
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Tell us a little bit about yourself: where you're from / you & your family's background.
I am a multidisciplinary creative and recent college graduate (May 2020) from Bear, Delaware. My focus is primarily in lens media but I also have an interest in mixed-media collage and printmaking. I am a first gen American, as my mother's side of the family is from Jamaica and my father's is from Kenya. Cultural blending was an ever-present aspect of my upbringing that has since impacted artistic tastes.
Can you elaborate on the photographs you took? The story behind them / when and where they were taken? Personally, what do these two photographs symbolize to you?
The collages were created via a cyclical process of physical and digital manipulation, using images sourced from a 1972 Issue of Ebony Magazine and a 1969 World Encyclopedia book. The piece "Flora" was created to illustrate the beauty of African-American women and emphasize the elegance of black hairstyles. "America Is Talking" repurposes Wilhelm Lehmbruck's sculpture Seated Youth (1917) to represent the worldwide effort of those who have had enough of systemic racism/police brutality, and are calling for immediate change.
What does the organization you chose mean to you and why that specific one? Why do you feel others should be aware of it & supporting it as well?
I've decided to send my proceeds to the PA Institutional Law Project (PILP) because they are a local organization who has already done so much to benefit the lives of unfairly treated incarcerated individuals and I would like to help to keep their mission going in these trying times!
Xander’s Prints for Action
