Ready SeT go

2026
Mixed Media on Canvas
24 × 30 in

Ready, Set, Go is about action—the excitement of speed, competition, and that moment when everything else disappears and you are completely in the zone. For a child, racing is pure imagination: the helmet goes on, the world becomes a track, and the only thought is go.

But beneath that playful energy is a second, more complicated meaning. The image considers what happens as a young Black boy grows older and the freedom associated with driving and speed begins to carry another possibility—the traffic stop. What begins in childhood as an innocent fantasy of racing can eventually exist alongside the awareness that being behind the wheel may bring scrutiny, suspicion, or vulnerability.

The helmet becomes important for this reason. Throughout my work, it represents more than play. It is a form of protection—a symbolic shield against the negative forces that may eventually enter a child's world.

Ready, Set, Go holds both realities at once: the freedom of a boy racing toward adventure and the desire to protect that freedom for as long as possible. I want him to move through the world with excitement rather than fear—to be protected, but never prevented from going.