This piece is titled ““Touch Me Not”Capturing the essence of Sammie’s return to the alter, the still shot gave me chills and reminded me of a time when I too found myself at the foot of the pastor.

Throughout history ladies in red have been depicted in cinema as entertainers, disrupting the peace with their beauty, their talent, and their presence. An ode to the blues of black culture, Vi strives to transmute generational trauma through healing expression in art.

Starting in AAPI month of 2025, the artist wished to create a piece which focused on the intersection between black and Asian culture within the movie. In Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), the Chinese Mississippi Delta story follows the fictional Chow family—Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo (Yao)—who operate grocery stores in 1930s Clarksdale, navigating the racial, social, and supernatural dangers of the Jim Crow South. Based on real history, they act as intermediaries between Black and white communities.

This set makes Volumes 8 & 9 in my Sinners-Inspired series where I’m capturing the essence of the Smokestack Twins. The Yoruba twin deity is revered as a divine entity representing balance, happiness, and spiritual strength. Smoke’s role was the calm, Stack? The Storm.

This painting is the first volume of my series (Bourne Sinners) that explores the blues of being brown in America. Reminiscent of the works of Eric Barnes (Sugar Shack artist), this series is meant to engage the cultural memory bank of the Old South as told BY us FOR us.

This painting was inspired by Adrienne Raquel’s Rolling Stone cover photo and the movie Sinners. Inciting the warrior within, the Asian characters lit a fire within Michael B’s characters which pay homage to the Samurai spirit. This piece serves as a reminder that channeling the feminine and masculine energy within one’s spirit is the most powerful balance a warrior can wield.