‍I AM ARTIST G. BODILE BALAMS. Throughout my years of creative practice, I have come to understand art as both a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute positively to the upliftment of my family, my community, and the broader world around me. My work is rooted in an ongoing exploration of identity, belonging, resilience, and the interconnectedness of human experience. The challenges and struggles I have witnessed and navigated have shaped my worldview and informed my artistic practice. They have led me to this present moment and continue to influence the stories I choose to tell. As an artist, I approach my work by first examining the internal landscape—the personal, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of experience—before extending outward to engage with community, culture, and society. I seek to illuminate the connections between individual journeys and collective realities, offering a point of view that is both personal and reflective of broader social and cultural concerns. Through these pieces, I hope to bring authenticity, insight, and a deep sense of humanity to the subject, inviting audiences to consider not only the story itself but also the larger questions it raises about community, identity, and our shared existence.

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My work explores the relationship between the hands, head, and heart as essential pathways to cultural memory, community development, and human consciousness. Through art and traditional knowledge systems, I examine how creative practice connects us to ancestral wisdom while helping us build stronger, more resilient communities in the present. While conversations about art frequently focus on individual expression or economic value, I am interested in art as a living practice of stewardship, learning, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. The work asks how communities can preserve and pass forward cultural wisdom through making, growing, teaching, and creating together. My work is informed by ongoing engagement with artists, growers, culture bearers, educators, and community members whose lived experiences embody these connections. I am interested in continued exploration of how creative and agricultural traditions can serve as tools for healing, education, and collective empowerment. This is an underrepresented perspective at a time when many communities are becoming increasingly disconnected from the land, traditional practices, and collective forms of learning. As we face challenges related to food systems, cultural preservation, and community well-being, there is a growing need to recognize the role that art and agriculture play in sustaining both identity and belonging.

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“Just Fishing” is part of the NuArts for NuMinds series of drawings that began in 1982: an awareness in healing, a journey back home. This drawing describes a pictorial sketch inspired by the Gulf Coast of Alabama.

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It is one of several drawings featuring similar design motifs along the borders—wood-grain patterns with foliage panels to express the wonders of Creation alongside human engagement. Every element is painstakingly drawn by hand, as if each mark tells its own story.

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“Just Fishing” captures a moment of finding time to meditate in thankfulness to the Almighty as part of Creation, in recognition of the whole.

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This particular composition began as a sketchbook drawing based on my observations. The process developed into another version of the concept of viewing the world from the inside out—a milestone for me in discovering my way back home, a moment of strength, recognition, and insurgency.

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When you focus on the three birds, you are reminded of the great patterns and rhythms of the life cycle. Or you can focus on the others in the scene who are just fishing. “Just Fishing” becomes a community ritual undertaken of one’s own accord.

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The design motif around the borders reminds me of the many systems and patterns to which we are connected: the waves, the sky, the wood grain. It reminds me of our consciousness and our ability to conceive of who we are and from whence we have come. To notice all the details, we must take the time to pay attention. This series of drawings leads one into that dimension of consciousness. It moves you beyond emotion and into the process of thought.

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Throughout my journey through this life, it has become part of my cadence for liberation beyond physical matter. Our greatest love is manifested throughout these moments. A community begins with the individual, extends to the family, then to the community, and finally to the whole of Creation. Our battles become more than flesh and blood as we become more fully manifested in the Spirit.

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In this drawing, every line tells a story more than words could ever reveal. As with all of the NuArts for NuMinds series, its liberating moments have led me to greater discoveries of who, what, when, and how I have come to be in the midst of our struggle for survival and the recapturing of all that is within us as ancient beings.

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