Malik J. Norman (b.1997) is native to the southern red clay of Mineral Springs, North Carolina, which resides on the unceded territory of the Waxhaw, Catawba, and Cheraw people, a land cultivated by calloused palms. His citadel, Western Union Park in Mineral Springs, a historical Black realm, is the rural roots that empower his spirit. He is an Alumni McColl Center Studio Artist and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as a Bachelor of Fine Art candidate in Photography and a Minor in Art History.
As an award-winning creative subjugated to LIGHT and image-making, Malik renders LOVE to explore his southern identity, rural realms, and his spiritual relationship with the Most-high while paying homage to the legacy of Black Gold. The heart of his work is committed to utilizing images to build a rural archive and inform social history, all to creatively solve problems for local charcoal-hued communities through creative reform. With a mission to showcase the resilience of Km (keme) as his “choice of weapons” for reimagining the mythology of self (I am) and for Negro liberation.