Tariku Shiferaw’s work deals with mark-making in ways that address both the physical and the metaphysical spaces of painting and societal structures. Mark making in his words is ‘following in the traditional conversation of painting and making marks and gestures that interrogates the space. A mark, as physical and present as cave-markings, which says, I am here, or I was here.’ Shiferaw’s ongoing series ‘One of These Black Boys,’ explores painting and societal structures through mark-making. Taking the names of songs from Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, Blues, and Reggae music, Shiferaw makes paintings that embody the experiences and struggles expressed through music by Black artists and composers. He often explores a spectrum of topics ranging from the notion of Black bodies in a white social construct to the popular idioms of romance, sex, and daily life.