Artist Highlight: Genesis Tramaine

Genesis Tramaine (1983) is a Black, queer, Christian painter based in Brooklyn, New York. Tramaine identifies as a “devotional painter” and is well known for her works that feature abstracted, colorful, and large-scale portraits that act “as an offering of praise.” Her works are made to be personal because “without her faith, there would be no painting,” and her expressionist style carries influences from her religion/church, relationship with her grandmother and mother, and music, which are rooted in her practice. She shares that the best way she starts her painting sessions is with early morning devotions that allow her to see the sunrises and be awake for when God calls her to paint.

“There’s no room for ego on the canvas,” and Tramaine embraces both her faith and queer identity as an additive to her practice. As a way to “empower spiritual fluidity that gives representation to people who love God,” each painting requires the audience to spend time with it by doing a “dance” of coming toward and taking a step back. Exploring the dense imagery can give insight into the codes of the work and its complex characters.

Another way that pulls the viewer into these paintings is through their descriptions; many of her work titles give materials and inspirations such as “sermons” like “Show it with your heart” and “Cast no stone of judgment,” which are featured on the edges of many of her canvases. Painting for her is an act of devotion, a ritual, and she says, “I don’t decide when I begin, and I don’t decide when I am done. It’s just one of the most beautiful things. The process is as much of a mystery as it would be for you.”

Genesis shares, “No. I’ve painted this way for a long time. I paint with the techniques of rhythm, color, space, and prayer. It’s important to maintain tradition when planting cultural mustard seeds.” The best invitation to the work is by allowing yourself to get close to the works, to see their layers and the sounds of the colors in each piece, and then step back to see the expansive figures in all their glory. Some influences for Genesis stem from gospel music and other artists such as Tramaine Hawkins, whom she is named after, and Barkley Hendricks. She distinctly remembers always traveling with paper, pen, and a pencil, constantly aware that she is “…paint heavy,” so painting is the first and only medium that she chooses to work with. An inside look into Tramaine’s process is that her work starts in her kitchen or church and “My studio space is welcoming and clean and quiet and full. There is no typical day in my kitchen. I work really hard to be still.” 

Genesis Tramaine is a contemporary artist who looks inward and focuses on painting real narratives, expressive portraits, and honest reflections that share her faith, identity, and “divine guided” style. To see one of Tramaine’s paintings, Evidence of Grace, is on view in the Contemporary Art Gallery at Crystal Bridges Museum.