Suleiman

von Sierra Diamond

Suleiman reminds me of

late-night cartoons,
the glow of a TV at 3 am in a half-finished basement:
those intersections between childhood and adulthood,
where the weird dreams we have morph and change
as we group up
and the dreams themselves grow up too
(because we want them to but also because they have to).

His work harbors an adult nostalgia for childhood themes and imagery, an in-between space.

playful exploration of subjects from childhood and the realities of adulthood,
of being confronted with the complexities of identity, ethnicity and responsibility.

bright colors, funny shapes
with something harder to grasp -
whimsical and humorous but ominous in a way too.

Like feeling the need to look over your shoulder in your friend's half-finished basement,
the allure of the TV not enough to keep your focus cemented on the childhood moment you're living in,
the feeling of something coming
(adulthood)
and the need to reckon with it.