Artist: Charles Curtis Blackwell
Recording Session at a Standstill
My Blind Brother Rashaan Ruland Rink in Action
One Way in the Opposite Direction
En Route to Celebration of Color
Artist's Statement
My approach is unorthodox – I use the bottom of the paintbrush, my fingers, an
ink spout. My process is a result of trying to make my blindness work for me. When
painting, I’ll strain my eye to see, until the reality of being partially blind registers. I then
rely on instinct, sloshing colors between thick lines, moving the medium along the path to
completion. My blindness, in a sense, gives me originality.
I work in several areas – afrocentric, conceptual, abstract, and experimental – all to create art that will enhance and inspire the human spirit. I know it’s working when someone comes in off the street and tells me that the piece I’m working on inspires them. Art is not to isolate but to build community.
Art is not for mere capitalist gain but to provide inspiration. Here in the Tenderloin much encouragement and inspiration is needed. I feel like I contribute to this, creating life where death is ever present. In today's alienated society, I choose to embrace the gift of life and create, create, create.
Conference artists shared with the Center on KTDRR these biographical statements. The bios represent their choices about how to describe their expertise.
As a young man, Charles Blackwell’s visual art studies at Sacramento City College were cut short after he fell down a steep slope, damaging his eyesight. “My blindness, in a sense, gives me originality,” says artist Blackwell of his lively, jazz-inspired paintings.
Charles has won numerous service awards for his volunteer work and advocacy for the arts. He has shown in over 55 exhibitions nationally, has had several of his plays performed, written 5 books, presented talks at colleges and universities, been published in magazines & journals, recited his poetry at open mic nights across the Bay Area including the Beat Museum in North Beach, has appeared on radio and has been given awards and prizes for his art and community work…to name but a few of his achievements. Blackwell holds a degree in Sociology with a minor in Studio Art from Cal State Chico.
Charles currently makes art at Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program in San Francisco and lives in Oakland where he teaches poetry to homeless teens at Youth Spirit Artworks.
Learn more about Charles' art online: