On the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts

Born and resides in Detroit.

Artina Dozier-Gage is a painter and writer based in Detroit. She received much of her training in the arts as well as her B.A. in English from Wayne State University. The campus’s architecture that stretches across the city’s urban landscape helped to cultivate Artina’s sense and appreciation for both fine art and design.

I find inspiration especially in implicitly urban and culture enriched environments. My work is nourished by the city—its inhabitants, architecture, its ethos of raw beauty and grit, and the fleeting moments of tranquility.

My current body of work and creative projects are concerned with the assessment, reconstruction, and projection of idealized beauty and glamour. The work examines the lure and love of beauty as well as the rejection and opposition to its mainstream interpretation; this internal conflict often reveals itself in an abstract format.

Another focus of my work serves to provide a visual outlet and search for contentment in my own understanding and awareness of historical and contemporary social consciousness and political thought surrounding black bodies and the African diaspora. These feelings are articulated by way of a visual language using raw and graphic imagery, design and typography.