Though Philadelphia artist O’Neill Scott has only been painting for seven years, he has been a creator for as long as he can remember. Scott’s journey into art began with a passion for drawing inherited from his family of “creatives and craftsmen,” whose love to “make things has been passed down from generation to generation.” His current exhibit on display at the art gallery in Villanova’s Connelly Center, is a product of his own life experiences, meant to reflect a wide range of societal issues from Black Lives Matter to the current environmental crisis.

The art of “Overcome Everything” is deeply personal, being pulled directly from Scott’s life, making the messages of his work all the more meaningful to him. Scott says that the paintings often “represent a feeling [he] went through, or [is] going through at the time,” and are created with the intention to “reflect a piece of [his] life or inner thoughts.” While he draws on experiences specific to him and his identity, his work manages to maintain universal relatability to human life as a whole. He believes that the “ups and downs, positive and negative moments” are essential in “helping us to grow and evolve” and incorporates this narrative into his work. Scott also credits this attitude with helping him be “not only resilient, but having a growth mindset.”

Despite creating art centered around societal issues, Scott doesn’t believe that artists are obligated to play any kind of specific role in society because to him, art is “a form of freedom and expression.” He recognizes that an artist can be one who simply makes art that looks nice for decorative purposes, or one like him who “create[s] work that is intended to convey a specific message or feeling.” The main purpose of his work is “to drive awareness to a contemporary subject or cause,” but regardless of an artist’s intentions or objectives, “artists help society move forward and progress.” For Scott, the goal of his work is to make the viewer “feel the need to sit with each work and have a sense of internal reflection.”

When it comes to his motivations as an artist, Scott finds the drive to create art from within. Being admired by audiences plays no role in this and his “motivation is wrapped up in the joy of creation and expression.” 

Exemplifying this is the fact that he has a private sketchbook filled with drawings to be seen by no one at all. 

He acknowledges that being able to show his work to the world is part of artistic success, whether through social media or upscale art galleries, but he also sees success as “being able to create the art that you want with complete freedom.”

Scott draws inspiration not only from experiences, but also from “old masters to current contemporaries.” 

Currently on his mind are Barkley Hendricks, Charles White, Alex Kanevsky and Tim Okamura. But, as for where he fits within the art world, he chooses not to think about it. In Scott’s opinion, “the art world is very fragmented and divided,” and the most important thing to him is avoiding “definitions and stereotypes created by the art world and feel free to create pieces that reflect who [he is].”

A principal belief of his is that “the only constant in life is change,” and for “art to stay the same, the artist would need to stay the same,” something he finds impossible. In fact, his art evolves “with every new body of work.” While a “structured figure and realism” serve as the foundation to his art, he finds himself being increasingly drawn into abstraction, something he’s been incorporating more and more into his work as he feels it adds more feeling than typical straight portraiture.

While every piece of “Overcome Everything” is a product of Scott’s deeply personal experiences, the one that he finds most affecting is “Protect Our, Protect Her,” a painting of his close friend with his daughter. This painting was created in the midst of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and “holds a deep place in [his] heart,” because of the connection to his own daughter, whose protection is one of the main goals of his life. 

It also hits close to home for him as he considers the “all the fathers that were murdered and continue to get murdered as a result of systemic racism, as well as all the children that are now left to grow up without the protection of a father.” It’s Scott’s hope that “this painting sheds light on that loss.”

For anyone seeking to get into art, Scott offers advice that comes with pursuing any kind of passion: persistence and determination. These are the key to achieving meaningful goals. Specifically, he tells hopeful artists to “go to openings, study art, network and most of all, work on your craft all the time.”

“Overcome Everything” will be on display at Villanova until Oct. 17 and is free to view for the community.