Craftsman artisan Po

Craftsman artisan, Poet
Ulysses Newkirk II, (b.1964) Detroit, MI.
This image, “Time: A face of God”, is not an attempt to put a face on God. This is an expression of a struggle to see and accept  the big picture of many aspects,  cultures & heritage co-existing in Americans of African descent over the passage of time. Something I believe is endangered in the world as a whole, especially for the African American Male, is vision. We must learn to plan, build & nurture relationships, not simply consume and discard the lives we take sustenance from. I believe our challenge as men is to first accept responsibility for where and what we are as a people, individually and collectively and second to plan and build a world for our generations in a distant future, according to the will of God.

God has gifted me with these abilities. I prefer to discuss art, culture, human relationships & my beliefs in general rather than talk about myself.
Before the few hours (two days), I took to execute the painting of the Nubian grave watcher, I spent  two years of research, study, sketching, developing the language of the image and preparing mediums, pigments and substrates. During this two year process, I discovered myself constantly asking, what would compel a man to stand guard over a valley of crumbling graves (pyramids) in the dessert of Sudan most of his life? The only answer I am able to give is,  he would do this for a future he could not see, one that is now my present. Now I ask, what will we leave for a future we cannot see.


All of my artistic training has come from apprenticeships, from master artisans. My most recent maestro, Hubert Massey, Painter of the Mural inside the Athenaeum Hotel in Detroit’s Greek Town and designer of the rotunda floor in the C.H. Wright Museum of African American History. “Time: A face of God”,  offers honor to all of my Maestros.

“Time: A face of God”
Nubian grave watcher. 6ft x 6ft.  Mediums Graphite, mica, silica, acrylic & oil on raw canvas.