whenthechildrencomehome, a painting of the artist with his chosen family, including two childhood friends from North Philadelphia, Archel and Kenny, and his sister, was created as the title piece for his 2023 solo exhibition at ICA Philadelphia.

The painting is part of the chosenfamily series, which explores the nonbiological bonds formed by queer people and the idea of family structures chosen out of mutual love and support to build hope and resilience.

The portraits of this series speak of queer perspective and agency. Drawing from John Singer Sargent's high society portraits and Francis Bacon's paintings in warped environments, the sitters are invited to pose in opposition to social norms as a form of resistance, play, and queering the act of posing.

Nestled intimately on a couch, the sitters fold in on each other with draped arms, layered hands, and intertwined legs, their bodies merging into one -- playing with the idea of birth and rapture, and loosely quoting Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam." The bodies are caught in a whirlwind, spinning and tumbling in and spilling out of the painting, shifting perspective from the right panel to the left panel.

The tableaus etched onto the upholstery of the couch and pillows reveal baroque scenes of the 18th century- grandly gesticulating figures and formally dressed dignitaries, suggesting a specific place and moment in time: the drafting and signing of the U.S. Constitution.