Student Artist Odessa Blackmore Illustrates Social Inequality

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Blackmore, an Art major, said she draws inspiration for her artwork from current social justice issues, such as the police shooting she witnessed in her neighborhood. She recently had three paintings on display in the Associated Students, Inc. monthly artist feature in the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Blackmore said the portraits illustrate the way she views police officers, showcasing how she sees them as committing murders and claiming their actions as self-defense. “It’s the most hypocritical thing, to be the person who is charging people of these crimes, but then to be hiding from your own,” Blackmore said. “In each one of (the paintings), I tried to portray emotion in their eyes, and by giving them emotion in their face, I wanted the viewer to think maybe not all police are necessarily just, and how we need to think about the checks and balances that need to occur in order to fix the system as it is.”