• Artifact ID: The Talisman, 2025

    Collection: Free Wifi

    Medium: Acrylic, ink, mixed media on panel

    Size: 48” x 36” in

About the Piece

The Talisman is a central piece in the Free-Wifi Collection—an artifact infused with coded language, visual symbols, and layered meaning. It serves as a conduit of cultural memory, carrying encrypted messages from the past while serving as a blueprint for the future.

A prominent figure within the piece stares intently to the right, embodying the archetype of a visionary—one who sees beyond the present moment, using imagination as a tool to shape a future not yet realized. This figure represents the power of intention and foresight, a reminder that visualization is the first step in manifesting a desired reality.

The Talisman was built through an interactive process, where participants contributed marks, symbols, and gestures to the composition. These collective imprints form a visual dialogue—one that attempts to reflect the shared experiences, histories, and aspirations of Black culture through an Afrofuturist lens.

Resonance: The Unspoken Thread of Black Culture

When I was invited to create this piece for Black@Waymo under the theme—“Black culture, honoring the resilience that has shaped our journey while embracing the vibrancy and uniqueness that make it extraordinary”—I immediately recognized the challenge of trying to encapsulate something so vast.

Black culture is not singular. It cannot be placed in a box. Its resilience and reach span continents, generations, and disciplines. But when I took a step back, I noticed a familiar rhythm woven throughout the diaspora—an unspoken frequency that connects us all. That thread is resonance.

This resonance manifests in our art, our language, our ingenuity, and our innovation. It is the undercurrent of our collective story, pulsing through time. To encapsulate this feeling, I embedded a poem within the piece—an encoded message written in my custom alphabet.

A Language of Its Own

The marks in The Talisman aren’t random. They’re part of a custom alphabet I developed as an extension of the Free-Wifi collection—each symbol representing what I imagine sound to look like when spoken, whether audibly or inaudibly.

I even transformed this visual system into a functional font that I use within my digital and creative workspace. In The Talisman, this alphabet serves as a connective thread, reinforcing the idea of Black culture as a living code—a dynamic archive of history, sound, and expression.

Translated Poem

Stories woven

hand to hand

Timelines crossing

Black defies the cosmos

Uncontained

beyond the box

Moving worlds bending

We build they erase

Still the story holds ground

Pigment won’t fade out

Seasoned in the food

Braided maps, coded dance

Truth in every step

Locks can’t hold the mind

Hands weave dust to gold

Past and future interlace

light bends in our hands

  • Tristan

    Issao Fujiwara

    Cynthia Hampton

    Melissa

    Carson Schultz

    Kisha Adams Rios

    Eric Kim

    Michael Wattendorf

    Amina Rehman