A feature story about Liberian American painter Papay Solomon. 

“Thank you for making me feel beautiful.” Papay said this random text from one of his suitors is still the most rewarding compliment that he has received. He has quite a few stories of people of all ages and racial backgrounds who have shared how the remarkable artwork that he paints motivates them to explore more about themselves. The impact that his work has on people still amazes him. Through his artistic journey, Papay has recognized great power to what you can be with your hands. With them, he takes his brush and attempts to “paint life.”

The realization of the power he possessed as an artist began at the age of five after creating his first painting. “It was a feeling of excitement to be creating something and see it come to life in its final form.” Papay fell into love with painting as an outlet to express the thoughts and feelings he had about his difficult childhood.

Born in Guinea in 1993, Solomon’s mother fled the First Liberian Civil War while still pregnant with him and crossed into the neighboring country on foot. At age 5, growing political unrest in the Guinean city of Gueckedou forced his family to relocate hundreds of miles again away to refugee camps, where he would spend much of his childhood. In 2008, Papay and his family were relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, after a caseworker, who noticed his artwork, helped the family with a resettlement case.

Since moving to Phoenix, he has become an accomplished painter gaining recognition across the country. Along with completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Arizona State University, Papay has received awards from local museums. His most recent achievement, a solo exhibition in Boston showcasing his gift of conveying the complexity and beauty of African immigrants in America through hyper-realistic oil paintings.

Those close to Papay share that his successes are a direct result of his work ethic. A trait that he emulates from his mother. “I feel like I am the laziest person in my family. My mom, till this day, that lady she grinds. She works, man, and she works hard. Our work ethic derives from the life that we come from. We couldn’t afford enough even to eat sometimes. All of those feelings are why I enjoy working hard. So far, I have received the confirmation that hard work pays, and I enjoy the payment. I don’t want to live that life again. I don’t want to have to struggle as I have in the past.”

For different careers like doctors, lawyers, or athletes, it is easy to visualize working hard to achieve your desired positions. In his world, Papay embodies a strong work ethic by doing something every day to make sure that he is progressing. “You have to create with a purpose. And that takes a lot of work to find that purpose. You have to be business savvy. Art making is like 40%, and the business side is like 60%. Plus, I can’t forget the all-nighters.”

Papay identifies as an outsider. A statement that he would agree with significantly growing up as an African refugee in the U.S. “I’ve been an outsider my whole life the most obvious is the fact that I’m an African. With that, I’m put on this spectrum. I’m not really, quote on quote African

African anymore in the eyes of my mother’s closest friends. But In the eyes of a white person, I’m not black, and in the eyes of an African American. I am just not black; I am African. So just that alone my identity is juxtaposed.”

Papay also finds himself as an outsider as an artist. He embraces and uses this role as an inspiration to continue to amplify the stories and experiences of the African diaspora.

“I am a young black guy, mostly painting black faces, and the people who have been collecting my work are wealthy white people. My work is shown in these prestigious institutions. Still, If you think about it, I paint young Africans who are often glossed over who are within themselves outsiders, including or even sometimes invited to the institutions that we are facing are ending up in. So my work by itself is also an outsider case. But because I’ve been given the privilege to show these faces to places that they would not have the opportunity to be shown at, I am comfortable being an outsider.”

Africans in America that struggle with how they want to express themselves. It is a common trait that he finds amongst the suitors that he interviews for his projects. He focuses on the characters’ expressions through portraiture to show how they can be deemed, outsiders. Which can raise challenges when it can feel like it’s like two different worlds they are coming from “being an outsider, and having different cultural perspectives, gives me an edge as an artist. It gives me the privilege to see things the way a typical American wouldn’t. I’ve always loved my African culture, and just being exposed to it in different realms, whether it's relationships with friends or, you know, artwork works to my advantage.”