Artist Statement
My practice centers on photography as a way of observing and constructing stories about place, identity, and visibility. I work primarily with portraiture and documentary based imagery, focusing on individuals and communities whose experiences are often overlooked or simplified. Rather than treating photographs as neutral records, I approach them as mediated objects shaped by intention, context, and relationship.
Living and working in Hawai‘i has deeply informed my recent work. As a Black artist in a place where African Americans represent a small percentage of the population, I am attentive to how geography, history, and power influence who is seen, who belongs, and how stories circulate. My images often capture everyday moments such as movement, gesture, ritual, and stillness, where larger social realities quietly surface.
Photography is the foundation of my practice, but I incorporate sound, video, text, and material processes when the image alone cannot fully convey the story. These elements function as extensions rather than additions, allowing time, voice, and texture to enter the work. I move between digital and medium format film, using each process to shape how an image is made, experienced, and understood.
Research plays a central role in my work. I am interested in the ethics of representation, the instability of photographic truth, and the tension between documentation and construction in contemporary image making. My projects develop through sustained engagement with people and place, prioritizing relationship over extraction and complexity over resolution.
Through this practice, I aim to create work that invites viewers to slow down, question assumptions, and engage with stories that resist easy interpretation. My work is ultimately about presence, who is here, how they are seen, and what it means to bear witness.
Artist Statement
My practice centers on photography as a way of observing and constructing stories about place, identity, and visibility. I work primarily with portraiture and documentary based imagery, focusing on individuals and communities whose experiences are often overlooked or simplified. Rather than treating photographs as neutral records, I approach them as mediated objects shaped by intention, context, and relationship.
Living and working in Hawai‘i has deeply informed my recent work. As a Black artist in a place where African Americans represent a small percentage of the population, I am attentive to how geography, history, and power influence who is seen, who belongs, and how stories circulate. My images often capture everyday moments such as movement, gesture, ritual, and stillness, where larger social realities quietly surface.
Photography is the foundation of my practice, but I incorporate sound, video, text, and material processes when the image alone cannot fully convey the story. These elements function as extensions rather than additions, allowing time, voice, and texture to enter the work. I move between digital and medium format film, using each process to shape how an image is made, experienced, and understood.
Research plays a central role in my work. I am interested in the ethics of representation, the instability of photographic truth, and the tension between documentation and construction in contemporary image making. My projects develop through sustained engagement with people and place, prioritizing relationship over extraction and complexity over resolution.
Through this practice, I aim to create work that invites viewers to slow down, question assumptions, and engage with stories that resist easy interpretation. My work is ultimately about presence, who is here, how they are seen, and what it means to bear witness.
Mission Statement
Skip Texan LLC is a multidisciplinary art studio and creative platform committed to centering the presence, dignity, and emotional depth of Black people—especially Black women—through fine art photography, collage, video, and sound. Founded by Dynell Bonner, also known as Skip Texan, the company uses image-making as a tool for cultural documentation, healing, and visibility.
Rooted in postmodern aesthetics and informed by lived experience, Skip Texan LLC blends analog and digital processes to create emotionally layered portraits, conceptual installations, and immersive media works. Our practice draws from music, street and traditional fashion, and oral history to tell stories that are often ignored or erased in institutional settings.
More than a studio, Skip Texan LLC is a vehicle for social commentary and cultural preservation. We aim to challenge dominant narratives, foster connection, and provide representation for communities historically left out of the gallery and museum space.