about
God is within her
SHE WILL NOT FALL
My name is Reshada Pullen-Jireh.
I am a visual storyteller, a teaching artist, and a visual arts leader in the Metro Washington, DC area.
​
I create mostly paintings of people because I am fascinated by our joys, challenges, triumphs, and the ways we give and receive love. I am captivated by the way people have the ability to express the God within them, uniquely. I delight in the manifestation of our creator’s multifaceted being through people.
A major part of humanity is to be able to self-identify with good. I paint stories, moments in unwritten, but well experienced tales filled with joy, peace and celebration. As an optimist, by nature, by nurture and by choice, I see the best in every situation and expect the best at all times in life.
In my work, I question what makes a thing powerful. Sadness, fear, and pain is commonly viewed as powerful because these feelings are oppressive. An onslaught of images of victimization, criminalization, dehumanization or simply overall omission can cause indelible damage for generations. Negativity robs those who engage in it the power and strength to go on, to continue, it extracts the will to live.
I choose joy. I take on my own empowerment and in my choosing, I am strengthened and energized. It takes boldness to continue activate joy when the temptation to suffer is high. I combat tokenism and stereotypical tropes that flood our visual culture. I seek to communicate love, earnest expectation, and life.
God is
within
her
SHE WILL
NOT FALL
I choose to paint black people living their everyday lives as an urgent need to tell the stories of our humanity.
I paint positive images of black people because of the desperate need to see and self-identify with good.
I create and promote images that communicate the wealth and depth of black people. I combat tokenism and stereotypical tropes that flood our visual culture. It’s my peaceful battle against the idea that only one culture is the standard or pinnacle for all others to aspire to reach. There are so many amazingly diverse ethnicities and cultures on the earth. All people regardless of their identity, contribute tremendously to the richness of the human experience.
It is my goal to present an oeuvre that communicates the joy, love, and strength of God through his people.
Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoy.
--Reshada Pullen-Jireh
Commit Thy works unto the LORD and your thoughts shall be established --Proverbs 16:13