New York-based artist Tajh Rust creates intimate paintings of Black people, resting and relaxing, within the serenity of their domestic spaces. With an MFA from Yale University, Rust’s pieces serve as a poignant reminder of the universality of human experience. They highlight how a need for rest, for reprieve from the outside world and for intimacy with loved ones transcends boundaries of race, class and background. This allows people from all walks of life to empathize and relate to Black lived experiences, fostering a sense of kinship which reflects the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Reduced Inequalities.
Rust’s art seeks to challenge conventional narratives of Black people in the media and highlight the beauty and complexity of Black identity. As viewers are able to see in his piece if i had a dream, where a Black man and woman are asleep next to each other. Their arms are outstretched to each other despite the gap between them as one sleeps on a sofa and the other on the floor. Rust draws inspiration from his personal experiences and relationships. He creates portraits of small everyday moments that resonate with authenticity and depth, capturing the essence of his subjects with striking clarity.
In Rust’s paintings, tiredness and rest are recurring motifs. They symbolize shared experiences of vulnerability and resilience, which viewers from all walks of life will be able to relate to. The subjects in Rust’s paintings are lying in repose or contemplating their surroundings with a sense of weariness, imbuing his work with a sense of quiet contemplation. These moments of rest also become a testament to the human capacity for introspection and renewal, offering glimpses into the universal private realm of the soul.
Black poet and performer Trisha Hershey has also spoken about rest in her pieces. She has written a book titled Rest Is Resistance, in which she outlines that resting, daydreaming, and napping are essential elements to creating a decolonized future for people of colour. In a world which prioritizes productivity, prioritizing rest actually gives coloured people more strength in facing a reality where they are placed at a disadvantage, eventually giving them the upper hand. Similar sentiments echo through Rust’s canvases as well.
In his piece Sleep (Daydreaming), audiences can also see Rust's fascination with interior and personal spaces. The painting showcases a Black woman, lying with her eyes closed on the lap of a Black man who sits comfortably on a sofa. Rust has rendered the interior of the room they are in with great care and detail, which may be described as a living room.
By focusing his viewers' attention on these mundane yet profound moments and details within people’s lives, such as the crinkle on the living room curtains and the lace throw over the sofa, he invites viewers to reconsider the significance of their own seemingly mundane lived experiences. Rust delves into the intimate relationship between the individuals within his paintings and also into the relationships they share with their environments. The intimate colours and setting chosen in Sleep (Daydreaming) can only allude to the intimacy shared by the two figures. Whether they are lovers or siblings, the piece highlights the ways in which people’s surrounding environments shape their identities, as seen in how the intimacy of the living room setting in Sleep (Daydreaming) alludes to the intimacy between the portrayed resting figures.
Another one of Rust’s most striking techniques is his use of water as a symbol of disruption and transformation. In paintings like Heavenly Peace and his early career piece, Ocean Floor, water infiltrates domestic spaces, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior. This surreal imagery evokes a sense of dreamlike wonder, prompting viewers to ponder the deeper meaning behind these symbolic elements.
In Heavenly Peace, he finds himself especially drawn to dreams and explorations of the subconscious. He seeks to unravel the mysteries of the human psyche and delve into the hidden recesses of the mind. Through this exploration, Rust hopes to bridge the gap between the conscious and unconscious realms, offering viewers a glimpse into the inner workings of the soul. The soul is something that he believes will yet again transcend the boundaries of socio-political backgrounds between people, another universally shared human condition.
In a world marked by division and inequality, Tajh Rust’s portraits serve as a powerful reminder of universally shared qualities in humanity. His art transcends barriers of race and background, inviting viewers to connect with universal emotions that bind humankind. In the quiet contemplation of his paintings, viewers find solace and communion, recognizing that, in the end, humankind is all united by the threads of their shared human experiences.
