My practice is rooted in the beauty, complexity, and resilience of the Black body—particularly the Black woman’s body—as it exists in both physical and symbolic spaces. Water is my central motif. It is simultaneously a site of danger, healing, memory, and rebirth. Through hyperrealist paintings of submerged figures, I explore the layered experience of navigating Black identity in America.

Using the medium of watercolor and acrylic with meticulous detail, I render my subjects immersed in water—buoyant, drifting, reaching, resisting. The fluidity of water allows me to express both vulnerability and strength. It becomes a mirror, a barrier, and a sanctuary. It reflects cultural trauma and personal liberation.

I seek to disrupt traditional representations of Black people by placing them in dreamlike, transcendent environments. In doing so, I reclaim visual narratives—offering an image of Blackness that is expansive, surreal, and deeply human. My work is an invitation to pause, reflect, and feel.

— Calida Rawles