These breathtaking portraits {oil on canvas} are the work of Ghana-born, now Portland-based artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. The scale, the color choices, and those stare into your soul gazes… chills. Here is Otis’ artist statement:

Otis Quaicoe’s figuration is built upon a palette where color becomes its own language of transformation, be it social, political or personal. These are images of empowerment and redemption, sophistication and humility, curiosity and quietude. Each figure becomes a symbol of the reclamation of cultural dignity, embracing the idea of origin and personal narrative as it relates to gender and race dynamics.