Yewande Kotun Davis
Baltimore, Maryland
Health administrator turned visual artist using art as a vehicle for community care
MessageYewande Kotun Davis is a Nigerian American visual artist based in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up heavily involved in the arts, but ultimately pursued a career in healthcare administration. Yewande resumed painting in 2015 after a series of traumatic personal events and continued to develop her craft while focusing on her healing. In 2020, Yewande pivoted from corporate to practice art full-time—a proverbial homecoming. While her previous experience as a population health administrator lends to her expertise at the intersection of health and mental wellness, place, and racial justice, her Nigerian heritage and Southern upbringing lend to her love of stories and storytelling. As such, Yewande utilizes her work to celebrate, depict, and reframe narratives that have been inadequately or falsely delivered in the past. With a focus on oil-based and water-based media, murals, and multimedia installation, Yewande is able to center the layered experiences of Black folks— most often women and children— by taking a special interest in their narration as a source of inspiration and truth. Through her approach and various media, Yewande’s work serves as a vehicle for community care by highlighting our connectedness, inciting joy, and creating space for healing. Yewande’s work has been exhibited in Baltimore and throughout the DMV area, as well as in Florida, Georgia, and California.
Statement
Community care has always been central to my being and my life’s work— be it through my first career as a healthcare administrator or my chosen career as a practicing artist. I believe that art creates space and opportunity for people and their stories to be seen and heard and utilize my work to highlight those who historically have not had their voices amplified, let alone their stories told. Through direct social and community engagement, which often informs my work, followed by a delicate dance between oil-based and water-based media, murals, and multimedia installation, my work centers the layered experiences of Black folks— most often women and children— highlighting our joy, resilience, and shared humanity. First-person narratives are married with vibrant colors, reimagined yet familiar imagery, and attention to naming in order to highlight our connectedness and drive meaningful dialogues that promote healing, incite joy, and help redefine the human experience.
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