© 2006 Jacolby Satterwhite, Remission & Resilience, oil on canvas (48â€� x 60â€�)
Jacolby Satterwhite began his artistic practice at age three. A cancer diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma at age eleven caused Satterwhite to lose mobility of his right arm. “To continue to make art with those limits is a way of triumphing over a dark period in my life,” he says. Satterwhite translates this inner strength to the subjects he paints who demonstrate strength, physical dexterity, and ability. The metaphor plays with the relationship of having limited mobility in the arm he paints with and creating large-scale, ambitious works: “Making art is symbolic for my resilience and strength as a cancer survivor.” Satterwhite was one of 20 students in his high school’s art department to be accepted to the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He was also rewarded with a scholarship to study painting in Sorrento, Italy, and a studio in New York City through the Maryland Institute College of the Arts (MICA). Living in New York for five months “gave me the opportunity to work with art critics, have critiques with established artists, visit galleries and museums, and work ina studio nonstop,” Satterwhite says. He will soon graduate from MICA.
