Art That Embraces the Unpredictable

Flowers Fighting Fire

Statement for February 1st Release

I’ve always believed in the power of art to reflect our deepest truths, to give voice to pain, hope, and resistance. Today, as federal immigration enforcement actions have escalated in places like Minneapolis — I feel both compelled and driven to take direct action and at the same time out of depth.

But, persist we must. So, as a photographer first, I went to a visual for inspiration. The image that inspired this body of work — Flower Power as photographed during Vietnam-era protests by Marc Riboud — captures one of the most powerful truths about resistance: that vulnerability and beauty are not weakness, but force. My project, Flowers Fighting Fire, uses that same visual language — soft petals confronting harsh realities — to create a space where grief becomes agency, despair becomes urgency, and creation becomes protest.

Beginning February 1st, I’m releasing a series of original paintings and reproduction prints on DionelleLake.com. All profits from this release will be donated to the ACLU and StandWithMinnesota.com, supporting legal defense and community advocacy in response to ongoing federal immigration enforcement. These works will be offered as framed originals ready to hang and as high-quality prints.

I do this because so many of us are drowning in the daily barrage of violence, shock, and grief that comes with watching state power deployed against communities again and again. Trauma psychologists tell us that reclaiming a sense of agency — especially in times of collective trauma — is essential to healing, and that channeling emotions into meaningful action is one of the ways we regain that inner ground. Art has long served as that outlet. It allows us to both bear witness and refuse silence.

This moment is exhausting — seeing human lives devalued, communities terrorized, and the institutions meant to protect us instead inflicting harm breaks something in us all. I cannot stand in hopelessness, and I cannot sit silently while injustice is justified under the guise of authority. So I choose to paint. I choose to release these images into the world. And I choose to give whatever comes from them back to those working on the ground for justice and accountability.

If beauty can meet resistance — if soft things can stand in the face of fire — then maybe we find strength in each other, and in this shared resolve to act, not just feel.

With love, anger, and hope,
Dionel Lake
DionelleLake.com