Esse Quam Videri Project

MUSLIM SELFPORTRAIT

IAM: How did you get the idea to start this project?

TODD DRAKE: Several years I had worked on projects that invite groups of people to participate in shaping the content of my art. This started as an experiment around 2001. I had been painting in my studio for years and started each painting with random marks that I then shaped into content and finished form. One day in 2001, I wondered what it would be like if someone else gave me those initial marks. Therefore, I went to area stores and asked the cashiers there to make a simple drawing that I could use in a large painting.

That began a long series of paintings that I eventually received funding from the Rockefeller Foundation to finish. It was called the 'Et al' series. 'Et al' is Latin and it stands for 'and others'. Therefore, from 2004 to 2005 I travelled around my home state of North Carolina making art with a wide variety of people, including truck drivers, janitors at a University, Alzheimer patients, and many more. During this time I reacted most strongly to groups that had little outlet for sharing their experiences or were misunderstood within my own community. I next worked in-depth with the undocumented immigrant community from Mexico living within my state. I produced two books; one a collaboration with an Anthropologist, Dr. Hannah Gill, titled 'Going to Carolina del Norte' and another picture book created in collaboration with the undocumented community called 'Give Me Eyes: Crossing borders to the heart'. As I finished working with this community on these projects, I looked around and recognized that the Muslim American community within my state was virtually invisible.

I also noted that many of my friends and family were forming their opinion of Muslims based on what they saw in the mass media. (i.e. Muslim-Terrorists) I had learned from previous projects that my approach to art making challenged many people’s perceptions and stereotypes. I knew my community would see reaching out to my Muslim neighbours as provocative, and I wondered if I would be rejected or challenged by the Muslim community.

The rest of the article you can read in the magazine.