JustArts Gallery
Tulsa, OK
Elevating the creative voices of people confined to carceral institutions across the US.
MessageCollection: R. Zumar
R. Zumar is a self taught artist who discovered the power of art in prison.
At the time I really was numb to the world. From 13 up to 24 I was raised by the prison system. And at 25 I had been sentenced to do 62 years and 9 months in VADOC. My introduction to art came from me feeling like how I learned to live was not what it was cracked out to be, no pun intended. So at Sussex 1 State Prison I decided to change how I was living. To be different than what I was and who people assumed I would always be. The decision to draw a leopard out of a National Geographic magazine is what led me here today. To me art is more than a hobby or something done just to waste time while I'm in prison. It is the numbness inside of me laid to rest and the awakening of my soul. It's the creation of something beautiful or provocative or both. It surpasses languages and can touch someone on the other side of the world. It's pieces of me revealed.
At the time I really was numb to the world. From 13 up to 24 I was raised by the prison system. And at 25 I had been sentenced to do 62 years and 9 months in VADOC. My introduction to art came from me feeling like how I learned to live was not what it was cracked out to be, no pun intended. So at Sussex 1 State Prison I decided to change how I was living. To be different than what I was and who people assumed I would always be. The decision to draw a leopard out of a National Geographic magazine is what led me here today. To me art is more than a hobby or something done just to waste time while I'm in prison. It is the numbness inside of me laid to rest and the awakening of my soul. It's the creation of something beautiful or provocative or both. It surpasses languages and can touch someone on the other side of the world. It's pieces of me revealed.
