The work of Dr. Hasaan Kirkland (Ph.D., MFA) authenticated by his signature, simply as “Hasaan” has been described as a visual editorial filled with layers of cerebral stimulation on Black Culture and American History.  The arc of his work ranges from palette knife-constructed paintings that reflect the ancestral past of African sculpture, blended with Cubism and abstract identity, through visual texture and design compositions that incorporate collage and portraiture paintings.  His work has been influenced by Romare Bearden, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lois Mae Lou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, and Ernie Barnes.  

Dr. Kirkland is a recipient of the 2020 Washington State Black Lives Matter Artist Award, the 2019 Redmond City Lights Public Artist Bootcamp Award, and the 2018 ArtPop Street Gallery. he was selected as the 2017 Belk Corporation Artist for the Award of Excellence. He was the 2017 key speaker of Creative Mornings in Charlotte, NC, with an address titled “What is your Weird Super Power”.  Kirkland's visual art traverses between traditional fine art [painting-drawing], murals, illustration, and digital art.  In his work, one can find visual displays of surrealism, abstract expressive figurative work, and compositions of colors, lines, and non-objective content.

Dr. Kirkland, the CEO of his own creative business Kairos Industry - Education, Art, & Culture (EAC) LLC, is centered in education, art, and culture. His artmaking, educating, and curation are driven by a fascination with visual literacy, intellectual creativity, wit, wisdom, and the need for creative and educational equity. Kirkland’s desire for his audience, clients, community, and stakeholders is to recognize the universal power of experience found in art and creativity as a bridge between experiences and human expression. The relationship is one bound with critical consciousness, and the courage to put one’s vulnerability into the space of interpretation and connection. Art is ostensibly the creative permutations that confound and ignite our imagination; it is the riddle of human connection, and it is the key to expression we unlock for creative freedom.