Our faces tell a story before we ever say a word.
Harlem, New York
One-of-one contemporary figurative art from Harlem artist Corey Wesley.
Unapologetic Faces: The Cost of Being Seen
Before we explain ourselves or decide what we want somebody else to see, the face has already said something.
That is where Unapologetic Faces started. I make archetypes rather than portraits of specific people. The work deals with identity, vulnerability, resilience, contradiction, and the things we carry long enough for them to show.
I usually begin with an emotion or a human experience, sometimes connected to someone I have met. I create from emotion and lived experience, developing each work through Photoshop and Illustrator, digital manipulation, and a combination of traditional and contemporary media methods, including newer enhancement tools such as AI-assisted technology. I direct the face, color, symbolism, and composition until the piece says what I meant. Some take days. Some take months.
I would rather you ask what you recognize in the face than who the face is supposed to be.
Available From the Series
Available works from Unapologetic Faces.
See a work you keep coming back to? Ask about it.
Collectors, designers, and hospitality spaces can contact the studio about availability, scale, placement, or acquisition.
