A crowned woman dissolving into stars — that is where this collection begins, and where every piece carries the weight of women who were never supposed to make art at all.
When I first learned about Edmonia Lewis, the first professional Black female sculptor working in the 1860s, something clicked deep inside me. She carved marble in an era when Black women weren’t even regarded as fully human. Now I hold a digital stylus and try, in my own small way, to continue what she started over a century and a half ago.
Carrying History Forward
Every portrait in my Royalty Series is, in some way, a thank-you note to the past. It connects to this Black Women Art tribute to culture and legacy. I think often about Harriet Powers, who stitched Bible stories into quilts while she was enslaved. She turned necessity into art and quiet rebellion into something beautiful, working with whatever the day gave her.
My empowerment portraits follow that same spirit. I use digital light instead of thread, screens instead of fabric. The tools have changed completely, but the heart of the work hasn’t — I’m doing exactly what she did, making sure our stories get told beautifully and on our own terms.
The first piece in this collection is the Cosmic Afro Eve T-Shirt — Black Culture Women’s Tee. It features a Black woman crowned by a full, luminous natural afro that radiates outward like a galaxy expanding into deep space. Stars and cosmic light are woven through her hair, framing her face with a quiet, unshakable power. She is Eve — the original woman — reimagined as a celestial being rather than a figure of shame. The four hundred hours I poured into this series honor every hour Black women artists worked without recognition, without gallery shows, without anyone ever learning their names.
Beauty That Corrects History
Meta Warrick Fuller created “Ethiopia Awakening” back in 1914. It showed a Black woman emerging from her bindings, freeing herself one wrap at a time. She was sculpting liberation before our language even had the right words for it.
My painting builds on what she started. I paint Black women who are already free, already powerful, already divine — there is no struggle left to escape, only a throne to occupy. Black Women Art surrounded by stars grew out of studying Augusta Savage’s work from the 1920s. She always knew we belonged among the celestial bodies, and in my work I’m simply making that belief literal.
Why Representation Still Matters
Elizabeth Catlett had to leave the country entirely because her art was labeled “too political.” Can you imagine? Simply painting Black people truthfully, with dignity, was treated as something dangerous.
Afro Art Men's T-Shirt - Beauty in Struggle Line Art Tee
The second piece, the Afro Art Men’s T-Shirt — Beauty in Struggle Line Art Tee, tells a quieter kind of story. Here I used flowing, unbroken line work to trace the contours of a Black woman’s face and natural hair — a single continuous gesture that moves from crown to chin without ever lifting the pen. The minimalism is fully intentional. There is real beauty in the economy of a line, in what you choose to leave out as much as in what you put down. Struggle and grace occupy the very same breath in this portrait, and that tension is exactly the point I wanted to make.
When Alma Woodsey Thomas finally received her Whitney exhibition in 1972, she was eighty years old. It took eight full decades for a major museum to acknowledge her brilliance. That’s exactly why my digital Black culture art doesn’t wait around for permission. I create it, I share it, and it reaches people the same day — no gatekeeper required.
Continuing the Conversation
Today we have artists like Amy Sherald painting Black women into the spaces we’ve always deserved, and Kara Walker forcing America to confront its own shadows. My pro Black art adds to that ongoing conversation with stars, with tenderness, and with celebration. These pieces also travel well as a meaningful present — I’ve watched them go up in a daughter’s first apartment, in a sister’s studio, even framed by a proud dad who wanted his home to reflect the women he loves most.
The third piece, the Black Love Art Print — Birth of Universe Couple Artwork, is perhaps the most expansive image in the whole collection. A Black man and woman are shown together at the very moment of creation — their embrace becoming the force that births stars, galaxies, and light itself. Deep indigo and violet swirl around them like a nebula taking shape. Their love is not small or private; it is cosmological, the origin of everything. What thrills me most is that we are no longer asking for space. We’re creating it, showing it, selling it, and thriving in it. My work uses digital tools to reach people galleries never would, so a Black woman — or a Black couple — anywhere on earth can see themselves reflected as Black Women Art.
Commission a portrait that places you inside this powerful artistic lineage. Let me paint your beauty as part of this historical continuation — a piece that honors the women before you while celebrating exactly who you are now. Starting at $2,000.
Your Portrait Artist: Kenal Louis
My custom portrait commissions start at $2,000 for a 12″ x 12″ piece and $3,000 for a 20″ x 20″ artwork.
Want to commission a one-of-a-kind portrait artwork for yourself or a loved one?
Let’s create something extraordinary together.