I Just Wanna Live

Pamela Cooper 
I Just Wanna Live, 2021
Pen, ink, watercolor

"‘I Just Wanna Live’ were the words that cried out from the hearts and souls of everyone that has seen George Floyd being murdered. Keedron Bryant’s song, of the same title, resonated with me and I was compelled to create a blind contour line portrait of the singer. This type of portrait captures his essence as a young black man. The 2020 organized marches and rallies all over the world captivated our attention, and helped bring us face-to-face with America’s racial inequalities. As an artist, I drew from my own experiences of racial injustice. My art is my voice, and my contribution to the movement. Black lives matter.” - Pamela Cooper

Pamela Cooper graduated from Seton Hill University with a B.A. in Graphic Arts/Minor in Fine Arts. She is an award-winning regional artist whose style is figurative with abstract and expressionist influences. She has exhibited at the Brew House and other local venues, and she was recently accepted as a member of Women of Visions, a long-standing collective of Black women artists in Pittsburgh.