Imagine Love: Show Me Love

Jermaine Powell is a mixed media artist and muralist (mural painter) who lives in North Carolina. He says he sees his art as storytelling, and many of his works are inspired by his personal experiences. Powell describes himself as a public artist who creates interactive artworks for people to experience. His work explores themes of family relationships, nature, balance, and women’s issues.

Imagine Love: Show Me Love is a mixed media art installation. It consists of three individual paintings that are displayed on top of a digitally printed backdrop. The paintings are made up of bright imagery, epoxy resin, and jeweled decorations. The three paintings depict members of Powell’s family. They are portraits of his mother, his wife, and his children. This work explores themes of family and community relationships. Powell used his personal experiences of love to inspire this artwork. He says he hopes this work encourages viewers to explore their own memories of love and what love means to each of us.

I’ve experienced the concept of love in so many ways throughout my life, and this work is about the people and things that created the man, father, and artist I am today: my mother, my wife, my children, and nature.

Jermaine Powell

This art installation was inspired by several works in the NCMA People’s Collection. These include the 17th-century Dutch Portrait of a Woman by Gerrit van Honthorst and Toy Pieta by Scott Avett. Powell says that Imagine Love: Show Me Love explores portraiture and the ways in which families are represented in art. This work also features images of birds that live in North Carolina. One of Powell’s favorite hobbies is birdwatching.