Born into the urban city of South Dallas, Texas in 1991, Lakeem was drawn to art as a young man when he first saw images of black superheroes in comic books. Inspired by the urban city, Hip-hop, and public school art classes in the early 2000’s, he taught himself how to express his thoughts through visual art and drawing in his notepads. He found employment by selling and trading his art services, and doing tattoos in the community, which introduced him to the value of being an entrepreneur. Lakeem quickly developed a style that would make him one of the most celebrated illustrated artists of his community, allowing him to change the idea of diversity in the art industry, while creating remarkably expressive images that consistently explores the social and economical impact of art with urban spaces.
The
Embodiment Series
The Embodiment Series is a project that I developed during my studio residency at The University of Texas at Austin's College of Fine Arts in the spring of 2019. This project is an expression of activism that communicates a tangible and visible representation of crucial ideas, qualities, and feelings of the current times. During the residency, the term ‘Embodiment’ became a reflection of people who I brought into the studio to work with personally, and other bodies that I created from photo references and my imagination that relates to the embodiment of social issues we experience as individuals.
These pieces are large scale illustrations created with black and grayscale India ink. The Series uses negative space, silhouettes, and inner details to explore the social context of the African American experience.
The NaturalBorn Illustrated
The NaturalBorn Illustrated project embodies a series of editorial style illustrations for my developing art magazine company titled "The NaturalBorn". These Illustrations cleverly reflect a series of hot topics and current events that are relevant in today's political and social climate. This series is inspired by major illustrated publishing companies such as The New Yorker, MAD Magazines, and Juxtapoz Magazines but from my own unique perspective.
I create these original illustrations in my sketchbook portfolio, then scan them and add editorial text and topics via photoshop. Occasionally I use these original illustrations as looping animations.
Fine Art | Paintings
With each project I’m involved in, I see to it that it’s undertaken efficiently — from the initial brainstorming session and first rounds of sketches all the way to the final illustration. With each character I add unique qualities that make them dynamic in design. My goal is always to leave a lasting impression with the clients I am collaborating with and my target audience. With each opportunity I showcase my ability to create engaging and exciting characters that are prepped and ready for the next level of production.
