Cole The Renaissance

Pronouns: He/Him

Artist Statement:

Three years and one slipped disc later, sciatica wasn’t the reason I felt numb after an underwhelming college football career. When I picked up the camera and paint brush, the feelings they elicited through the creative process were the impetus towards healing my worn soul. As I maintained my practice and steadily healed myself, I realized art would be the way I learn, teach, and, in time, help heal people in a world that only teaches violence. I am an engineer-turned-artist who seeks to capture and document the beauty of diverse facets of life. Diversity here is not meant in the literal sense, but the sense that people live their lives so many different ways across gender, race, and ethnic lines. Resulting in a melding of different perspectives that weave the fabric of a community together. The juxtaposition of these facets creates contrasts that serve to highlight the beauty of all parties involved. My work serves as a medium for connection and healing in our communities.

Bio:

Cole The Renaissance is an engineer-turned-artist currently residing in San Diego, California. Cole graduated from Dartmouth College with a mechanical engineering degree and began his art journey at the beginning of his senior year after faced with a career-ending football injury. His photography focuses on urban ethnographies of marginalized communities throughout the United States.