Janiva Ellis

‘Park ass somebody’ is a phrase Dachi Cole used to punctuate a conversation we had about what being a child felt like. Being scraggly anonymous and young. Running around, a little fully realized mess. Then suddenly lost. Then sprinting back in to try on something different.

This cluster of paintings explores the distance between childhood and nowhood, as being measured by layers of voyeuristic exchange. Impressions of who we are, how we feel, and how we are perceived slip in and out of harmony as these layers shift their alignment. Stressed jest, assured and obliged, Park Ass Somebody is born in pursuit of completion.