Philadelphian Iye Yin Dae is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist whose portfolio includes fine arts, design arts, media arts, and music. From a young age, Iye Yin Dae has maintained a “strong sense of my African and African/Caribbean cultural identity along with my experiences as an African-American male from the inner city.” Several of his large-scale paintings are part of the Colorful Conversations series inspired by his travels. Iye Yin Dae wants to “stimulate viewers using therapeutic color schemes as they travel the world.” 

Colorful Conversations is Iye Yin Dae’s personal celebration of Mexico—its sunny skies, beautiful beaches, cotton production, the unique use of decorative cotton within Mexican homes, and the ongoing cultural influences of the African Diaspora that thrives throughout the region.  

The theme is also personal to Iye Yin Dae’s own identity. He has said, "The cotton and black lines are an ode to my heritage and culture... in America, cotton has always been associated with slavery, but that’s not the only narrative. I wanted to incorporate cotton as an object of beauty and juxtapose it with sand because the two are inherently opposite, yet here, they coexist in beauty.” 

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