Because, of course.

Here’s a quick turnaround animated ad in support of the Illinois Fair Tax Amendment produced in partnership with the Grassroots Collaborative. I’ve been terrible at sharing things like this more widely lately, but I’m usually pretty good about dropping things into my Commercial Portfolio if you’re ever curious about my more ‘complete’ work nervous sweat emoji. I’ll be back to personal projects soon, but I’ve still managed to drop some Easter Egg characters from some of my original work into recent commissions. Can you spot any familiar faces in these two projects?

I’m on a wave with giving inanimate objects happy faces lately. I used to love the show Rolie Polie Olie as a kid. Here’s some static happy bush faces from a recent collab with The Ella Baker Center for #NOSL20 (Night Out for Safety and Liberation). Posters will be in the shop soon(-ish), I promise <3.

This 2D illustration centers on a greenery-wrapped apartment building set against and visually blending in with a sunset backdrop. Through the building’s windows and around it’s exterior are sites of gesturally-outlined inhabitants of diverse appear…

This 2D illustration centers on a greenery-wrapped apartment building set against and visually blending in with a sunset backdrop. Through the building’s windows and around it’s exterior are sites of gesturally-outlined inhabitants of diverse appearance interacting with one another and the environment including a roof-top garden, a child care center, computer lab, kitchen, sewing room, supplies-sharing pully-system, library, and freestore. Atop the rooftop garden, a billboard reads: #SafetyIs an ecosystem. Clinging down the building’s exterior, supporting text continues: of Accessibility, Everyone can receive all the things they need to live fully. Interdependence, Our well-being relies on the well-being of others. Welcoming care, All people are worthy of love, healing, and protection. At the bottom of the vertically oriented image is a pink, setting sun containing the letters NOSL; the text Saftey is an Ecosystem. Night Out For Safety and Liberation; and the artist tag, bria royal.

06-08-2020

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Thank you all for the birthday acknowledgments this week.

Last Friday was Breonna Taylor’s birthday. I spent that day for the most part in silence - no constant music or podcasts or YouTube videos in the background. This doodly thought is one of the things that came to me that day (animated mostly on my bday/Monday morning). It was good to take a break from commissions and work to practice using art for my own mindfulness again. Remember, your movement art is valid even if it isn’t neat and hashtag-able. Make what makes you feel free, too.

On my actual bday, I started working on a small garden to feed myself and my building-mates. Some of my neighbors joined in and committed to help maintain the space.We didn’t get around to talking about alternatives to policing or defunding initiatives or some of the recent murders of our people (certainly those conversations will come with time). But we did teach the young children the names of various vegetables in English and Spanish and had a lengthy discussion about “where mangos come from” (Have you thought about where your food comes from today? Your clothing? The device you’re using to read this?).

For a moment, it felt like I was back at Freedom Square with my Let Us Breathe fam (miss y’all) having those curious side conversations with youth while playing with paint and other crafts together. That feeling was an incredible bday gift.

IF YOU ARE FEELING STUCK RIGHT NOW, consider starting with the people who are already right next to you and the free earth that is all around you. It’s no coincidence that as the owning class burns, many of us are growing things together and connecting with our planet in new ways. Our world’s ecosystem will always move in solidarity with the marginalized because it, too, suffers from the same exploitation, disregard, and mass death at the hands of greed and racial ego that we do. And just like us, it will tear this WHOLE shit down if muhfuckas don’t get their shit together ASAP.

Again, thank you to everyone who’s reached out to me to share love and concern through covid recovery, our more recent struggles, aging up, etc. It might hurt my brain to respond to you all (I will tho... eventually... y’all know I will respond to some year-old shit like it’s nothing lol) but as a bday gift to me, I implore you all to have some silence (even just 15 mins) today or any day and really take in whatever comes to you fully. Really experience those moments.

Home for a bit

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Stop by the Michigan Ave Apple Store in Chicago and exercise yo world bending mind with me and the @airgoradio homies this Friday, Jan 3 @ 6:30pm. We’ll be working on a collective animation for the video wall and I’ll also be sharing some sneaky peaks of the world I’ve been building for my next short film.

Figuring out what we will do with this world after we strip it from all its bs is hard - and necessary! So we’ll be sharing some techniques on how we can confront this duty in both imagination and in practice. So bring your thinking beanies! iPads will be provided to all participants for the workshop and assistive listening services will be available. #todayatapple

Mucho cambio de vida...

…mucha transformacion de forma. Hope y’all moving through em at least slightly more gracefully than I am lol

Need to do so much portfolio updating but for now here’s some post-hiking ‘straight ahead’ doodles from yesterday. Despite all the dejection looming over the world (& these feeds), feeling pretty thankful for all the creative energy my fam, friends, & colleagues consistently pump into it and allow to energize myself & nuestras chakras colectivas. Ps. I’m tryna clock 100 hikes before my next bday (June 8). I’m at 38. Hml. I promise to take my phone off Do Not Disturb in 2020.

Missing Daddy

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Missing Daddy, written by Mariame Kaba and illustrated by bria royal, is a story about a little girl who misses her father because he’s away in prison and shares how his absence affects different parts of her life. New York Times bestselling author Daniel José Older describes the book as “a crucial book for our times. Using storytelling and gorgeous artwork, this book brings heart, soul, and deep compassion to the challenges facing kids with incarcerated parents. A much needed piece of children’s literature.” Buy the book here.

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my unapologetic... Accessible Protest Pack

[Image description:&nbsp;A looping gif with title “my unapologetic… Accessible Protest Pack” at the top featuring a series of moving drawings with captions and checklist items.&nbsp;Top left: A wheel rolling in place. “Can everyone get here?” Checkl…

[Image description: A looping gif with title “my unapologetic… Accessible Protest Pack” at the top featuring a series of moving drawings with captions and checklist items. 

Top left: A wheel rolling in place. “Can everyone get here?” Checklist item: “choose barrier-free spaces that are easy to travel to and navigate”

Top right: A bench and a blinking exit sign. “Can everyone take a break or escape?” Checklist item: “secure nearby rest and refuge spaces that accommodate bodily and sensory needs”

Middle left: A hermit crab shell with butterfly flapping wings on top. “Can everyone feel safe here?” Checklist item: “maximally minimize potential for harm and protect those most likely to be targeted by police and other powers”

Middle right: A lit flickering candle. “Can everyone breathe?” Checklist item: “use fragrance-free candles and designate no candle zones at vigils”

Bottom left: An upside down question mark, a hand making thumbs up and thumbs down motions, and a no symbol. “Can everyone understand?” Checklist item: “provide signage, digit handouts, and offer interpreting, translating, sign language, live captioning, and guidance services”

Bottom right: A crowd with different members being highlighted. “Can everyone participate? Checklist item: “involve people typically disabled by society from day one of organizing”]

My Unapologetic Accessible Protest Pack is a check list is designed to help organizers encourage accessibility in protest spaces. If one of the goals of your protest is to attain maximal reach for your cause but you aren’t taking steps to make your action accessible, you’re lack of inclusivity will be a detriment to your own goal!. You can download and print this gif in poster form here.

Art For the People Award: Sarah-Ji Rhee

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Sarah Ji,

It is an honor to take part in honoring the critical work you do for our movements. You are a one-woman library and your documentation tells stories that multimillion$ museums have failed to convey. Photos are very sacred artifacts, literally capturing the exact light of an instant. If you know me well, than you know I am sometimes weary of photography; the way it can prematurely memorialize us. But Sarah doesn't capture ghosts, but, rather, amplifies spirits that defy spacetime. These spirits exude affirmation in how far we've come (love) and yet remind us why our movement must continue (struggle).

As we enter a new era of privatization, information hoarding, and filtering, your labor in particular will resound with an importance far beyond what is immediately conceivable. But don't let that discourage you from taking some time off when you need it! :)

so thankful for you as well as all of the people who have been brought into my life through you, 

<3 bria

The Shrine of Lullabies

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"The Shrine of Lullabies" is a collection of animated digital altars based on the work of 3 musicians exploring themes of mental health and trauma related to constructs of gender. In collaboration with Red Bull Sound Select Presents: 30 Days in Chicago, the project seeks to affirm the power of visual arts and music working together to create uniquely spiritual experiences, even from unexpected genres such as animation, comics, pop, and rap.

Altar #1: For Expired IDs  (based on SweetSexySavage by Kehlani)

Altar #2: For Dead Flowers (based on Por Vida by Kali Uchis)

Altar #3: For Missed Calls (based on Telephone  by Noname)

On November 10, 2017, The Shrine of Lullabies was projected during the Chicago Arts District’s 2nd Fridays Gallery Night (Pilsen Art Walk) on the side of the Chicago Art Department building from a vacant lot. The installation sparked dialogue amongst pedestrians not only about the content of pieces, but also the utility of vacant spaces throughout the city.

Animation by bria royal
Video by Miles Royal
Projection by Alex Palma & Charlie Kim
Song by Kali Uchis performing Tyrant. (C) 2017 Virgin EMI Records, a division of Universal

The Shrine of Lullabies was on display as a full, interactive installation Monday, November 20, 2017 through Friday, November 24, 2017 at The Dojo. The opening reception was held Monday, November 20, 2017 and included a Digital Altar Building Workshop. Throughout the week, visitors of the space were encouraged to contribute to the installation by bringing in items related to each piece and placing them below the corresponding altar.

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Things I Realized In June

June 2, 2017 - today I realized I love music. That may seem hella basic, but I'd never actually said that to myself until today #thingsirealizedinjune

June 6, 2017 - today I realized that telling myself I just need to wake up earlier is a fuckin dumb ass solution to some problems that are actually much more complex. #thingsirealizedinjune

June 19, 2017 - today I realized: 1) I (frfr) need to drink more water. 2) I live next to an incredible body of water 3) The significance of both of these statements seems to be growing exponentially with time 😐 #thingsirealizedinjune

June 30, 2017 - This month I realized I gotta move to a borderless, nationless, ownerless planet ASAP. I finished writing my first graphic novel while at the same time (& after record highs of hate mail lol) often questioned why I continue to share art with the world. I got hyped up on some @champagnepapi and decided I’d post this anyway, but did so also understanding that every single image in the universe resounds infinitely (literally) & who fuckin knows what its capable of out there. Again, more astrophysics in our abolitionist and decolonial frameworks, please. this concludes #thingsirealizedinjune thanks, breezy.

Mama's Day

I spend a lot of time contemplating the effects that trauma has had on the way I produce art and tell stories. It took me a long time to realize that the traumas we endure are not solely our own, but are often generational. However, with this piece, I remind myself that we also pass down hxstories, rituals, generations of interdependent love, and community despite the distance, borders, and oceans that separate us, and I am really thankful to have those traditions.

Forward Together will be printing thousands of cards with this image and others to send to immigrant and Muslim mamas May 14 to show that they are loved and honor their resilience. You can write a card to be sent at mamasday.org/act OR send an e-card to your own mama at mamasday.org

GET FREE BLACK PEOPLE

much love to NIC Kay on their show Lil BLK by NIC Kay which is showing tonight at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse as well as tomorrow afternoon. Working on this piece brought me a lot of joy & focus in a really scatter-minded week. <3

"In an experimental solo performance influenced by New York City gay/queer ballroom culture, live punk shows, butoh and praise dance, lil BLK tells the autobiographical story of a fairy boi, child of god, little black girl, performer and activist. Through the exploration of form, performer NIC Kay wrestles with the societal constraints placed on the black feminine body and the traps of being a black performer searching for freedom on the stage…in a beat."

You can cop a print on NIC's etsy: https://www.etsy.com/lis…/518016481/lil-blk-get-free-poster…
All proceeds go to Chicago and NY based orgs

8 ways to be present

There is an erasure happening within movement spaces to folks disabled by a society that fails to meet the necessities of their conditions/circumstances (often despite having ample, but not well-dispersed, resources to meet them). I believe this is largely due to an inability to "show up" in the not-diverse ways typically celebrated by our movements and a perceived lack of other options. I'm most focused on redefining what involvement looks like for myself, but fighting this erasure is a two way street that requires reciprocal, conscious effort from us as individuals and the community, aka "MOVE UP, MOVE UP":

- Movement communities have a responsibility for creating the conditions necessary for persons with chronic conditions, necessities, and otherwise undersupported circumstances (bodily, mental, or sensory; visible, invisible, or ignored) to MOVE UP as both activists and organizers. Work on it!

- Baes, here are 8 ways to MOVE UP in our movements when you cannot exactly "show up":

1. Organize in a space constructed to meet your needs, such as your home. (one of the reasons I started Paint & Drank!) Disrupt local spaces you naturally encounter, such as on your way to work.

2. Use art as a tool for cultural organizing. Our current popular culture has been built to affirm systems of oppression and needs revolutionizing. (For the People Artists Collective has been a space for me to do just that)

3. Recognize and affirm your self-care and healing as a necessary component of our community's healing - a super necessary piece of movement sustainability.

4. Do harm-reducing outreach (written and oral) to key people/stakeholders, sign petitions, and make donations to or raise money for campaigns when you have the capacity.

5. Advocate for more intersectional approaches to the issues you face. The Medical Industrial Complex especially exploits the black people and POC. These folk are too often left out of accessibility advocacy.

6. Participate in the strategic planning of actions. Ask me about this offline.

7. Amplify your needs to your community. Be consistent, unapologetic, and invite others to amplify theirs as well. This helps accessibility checking become a habit in our community, and others who don't have the opportunity to speak their needs are likely to have some overlap with you.

8. Focus on mobilizing others in cases where you cannot be present. Start with close friends and family. Telling others to participate even though you can't does NOT make you a hypocrite.

I'm just brainstorming (feel free to add), but for now, just know that everyone is useful and that there are concrete steps we can all take to contribute.

Ps. this .gif is the animated version of a piece in a mini manifesto i've been working on. more on that l8r. 

#FreeBresha

Bresha Meadows, 

You will not be erased into the system. We will not allow it. We will not lose you.

Happy Birthday...

... to my not so little bro, Miles Royal.

Hold Space For Black People

A space is an active environment. A space is political. A space is the sum of the conditions set in motion by the people who inhabit it. A space facilitates action and prompts reaction. Space is necessary to thrive. A space designed for black people to truly exist in is our most urgent need. Such a space won't appear on its own. 

Many have asked what they/we can do for me/us this week. My ask is to hold space for black people in whatever capacity you are able to. That means black people self-determining our availability without capitalism's permission. That means black people shouting their stories into the lands. That means hearing those stories from actual black people. That means time set aside for unconditional affirmation, listening to our needs, inviting people over to build. That means embodying and adopting the revolutionary practices we seek to become our everyday lifestyle. That means space for black people. 

That means non-black allies seriously asking themselves whether or not they are truly upholding space for black people or simply trying to 'behold' space. My healing is not summoned to be content for your bewilderment, your newsfeed, your gossip, your consumption...

My blackness is super salient right now. I want that to always be a beautiful feeling. That will require revolution - a total rebuild. My body, my mind, my emotions - my healing - will be a part of that. 

How to Make Art with Ghetto Nails

"How to Make Art with Ghetto Nails" - basically a tribute to the daily rebellions against respectability politics, "low" arts, and anyone who gets asked how they do _X_ with "those" nails - answer: just like everyone else, except with 10x more magic. 

story and animation by bria royal

music by deadxbeat