Sauvage

2026
Acrylic Medium Base
48 × 48 in

Sauvage explores the remarkable ability of Black culture to take language once used to diminish us and transform it into a declaration of power.

The word sauvage—savage in English—carries a painful history when applied to Black people. It was used to suggest that we were uncivilized, dangerous, or somehow less human. Yet Black culture has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to reclaim language, reshape its meaning, and return it to the world with an entirely different energy.

Today, to call someone “savage” can mean they are exceptional, fearless, relentless—someone so good at what they do that they simply cannot be matched. What was intended as an insult becomes a compliment. What was meant to diminish becomes a badge of confidence.

The flowers surrounding the figure reinforce that transformation. They introduce beauty, growth, softness, and individuality into a word historically associated with brutality.