Trayvon Martin + We Are All Trayvon Martin (pair)

These two paintings Trayvon Martin and We Are All Trayvon Martin depicts Martin — the 17-year-old African-American who was fatally shot in 2012 by neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla. — with his father, and the latter shows me with my son.

I created both paintings after finding a photo of Trayvon Martin and his father shortly after the teen was killed. It was a touching photo that brought me to tears for many reasons, one of which is that I have a son and I can only imagine the pain that father must be going through.

This is what inspired me to re-create the photograph with my own son and then make a pair of paintings of both images. I think there is something about this photograph of Trayvon Martin and his father that cuts through the politics of the story and forces people to empathize, and I think this is the key to fixing the problems that this story epitomizes.