“#InHonor: Variations on a Theme”

“#InHonor: Variations on a Theme” is a series of portraits by the artist Ervin A. Johnson, Master of Fine Art recipient from Savannah College of Art and Design. Johnson’s works are created through a deliberate process of altering photographic material, where the mediums offer a metaphor for the physical and mental abuse done to Black bodies. The process results in heartbreakingly beautiful up-close portraits where the subjects’ faces have been patched together through a collage of elements, reconstructed by paint strokes and squares of fabric. Nodding to the current-day social media culture through its title, the works have been created to honor Blackness through a visual reminder of the triumph that comes from transformation after trauma.