While working on hit records in the music business has played a driving force in his career, it’s Vakseen’s (born Otha Davis III) passion for the arts that has served as his key to sanity in the fast paced entertainment industry. The self-taught, Los Angeles-based artist has created a distinct collage-influenced painting style that fuses elements of surrealism, cubism, photorealism and fashion design onto canvas. Drawing inspiration from women, emotions, and popular culture, his paintings deal with the theme of female identity and evolve around society’s idolization of beauty, the enhancements women endure to obtain this level of “perfection” and the impact this has on our society. His #Vakseenart has been selected for over 40 solo and group exhibitions in various galleries and venues throughout Los Angeles. His work has also been featured in over 45 art and literary magazines and been sold to collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide.

Being a creative mind, the arts have played a major role in my life since childhood. I grew up overweight, so I wasn’t always the most confident. I wasn’t a hermit or anything, but I was insecure. Society does that to people. Especially with the importance we place on each other’s outer appearance. It wasn’t until I was much older that I was able to love myself, and express the inner voice that my childhood circumstances wouldn’t allow. When you can’t find the words, or even worse, aren’t allowed to vocalize your feelings within an accepting environment, it’s amazing how creativity can serve as a conduit for emotional release. Art helped maintain my sanity in this crazy world. It’s fitting that this same insecurity would manifest itself as inspirational subject matter in my art years later.

My creations pulsate with feminine energy. Women are God’s greatest work of art and I believe life as we know it, evolves around them. Although I couldn’t fathom being a woman in this patriarchal world we live in, I open my creative process to the allure inherent to women. I aim for my art to celebrate the acute imperfections and endless perfections that exist within every woman. Today’s media rarely allows for flaws. There is an overload of perfect images that are packaged as if they represent a reflection every woman can see herself in. And that’s not realistic, because there is no balance. Young women who are spoon fed hatred of their natural selves are likely to become carbon copies of magazine covers, and find it difficult to love themselves. And that is something that unfortunately, I can relate to all too well.

As quickly as the aperture of a camera opens and shuts to capture light, the unique radiance of the female image is photoshopped away. Models cut away and cover the parts that give them distinction. It’s been happening for so long that perfection is the new role model. I’m not against new and unfolding trends in fashion or personal enhancements. I simply do not appreciate beauty being defined for me, or anyone else. One of the wonderful things about the human experience is that we are free to explore, discover and evolve our perception of the multifaceted aesthetic this world has to offer.

If I have to label it, my art falls under the surrealism category. I’ve created a signature style that fuses elements of photorealism, cubism and fashion design. Each painting is a unique portrait of an insecure soul with an incredible story to share. This clearly defines the base of my work; however the method is more complex. I attack my creative process the same way a cosmetic surgeon would. I use high end fashion and beauty magazines to clip and surgically collage the perfect features together, bringing my ideas to life. From this point I recreate everything by drawing, then painting these beautifully insecure souls onto the canvas. Initially, I would create using both acrylic and oil or water color paint. Now, I solely work with acrylics. My pieces come to fruition quickly, so I love the flexibility, depth and complex layers acrylic paint allows for. Vibrant color is my preference so my pieces tend to be loud, sensitive and vivacious. Colors demand attention. They play with our senses and evoke emotion responses within the human mind. I use that to my advantage. The colors are essential to the complete story of each creation.

In essence, my art is a visual dialogue about society’s idolization of beauty and the surreal, superficial times we live in. I only hope to be fortunate enough to produce art that consistently ignites discussion, captivates the senses and most importantly, questions the importance we place on outer appearances.