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“Heart of the City: HArtford Love” | Acrylic on Canvas | 24x36" Original Size

“Heart of the City: HArtford Love” was an idea conceptualized from about 10+ years ago. The idea originally stems from the Jay-Z song, “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”. As the parenthesized words suggest, feelings of admiration can be complex. I felt the call to submit a piece representing diversity for my old doodle to finally come to life.

The piece features a silhouette of the skyline, somewhat indicative of Hartford, CT. Hartford closely reminds me of its sister city, my hometown, Springfield, MA. Like many places, much love can be discovered. Love has many forms and features. It can be romantic, nurturing, tough, disguised, patient, platonic, fast, formidable, flagrant, flamboyant, subdued, etc. It can also have the opposite effect, hate.

Due to the dichotomous nature of love and hate, the piece features a tobacco plant/flower symbolizing the Clay-Arsenal area’s history. After WWI many southern blacks were hired to work tobacco fields. After WWII many Puerto-Rican families did the same. The migration and upward mobility for our folks amongst others presented trying times while establishing their place within the community. The flowers are pure and prosperous.
On the flip side, intertwined, are Venus flytraps. Various environments can be referred to as the “trap”. I credit Atlanta artists such as Outkast, Jeezy, and Tip’s influence, respectively. They utilized it to convey workings of black markets, such as drug enterprises. Limited options often cause people to explore these markets which would land them in a trap.

Now, “trap” is synonymous with “hustle”. If you work 9-5, you trappin’. Takin’ care of your entrepreneurial endeavors, you trappin’. It’s American culture. It’s our culture. It’s beautiful and scary simultaneously. I see the former rather than the latter. Rather, there’s no existence of one without the other – a beautiful struggle.

~ David C. Jackson

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