Written by Shar Jossell
A painter whose work sits at the intersection of psychology and lived experience, Travion Payne is a member of GLAAD’s 2026 EMEI cohort, creating vibrant, textured paintings that confront the issues Black men and the broader Black community are too often left to navigate alone.
Payne’s artistic lens was forged through personal history. A problematic manager who claimed ‘not to see color’ prompted his earliest black and white paintings, a direct response to that erasure. From there, the work deepened. “I have religious trauma because I was born in a church, heavily involved, and I’ve seen behind the curtain of the things that go down. I’m still trying to unpack that, so I want to put that in my art.” Add a degree in psychology, a background in dance and acting, and the result is portraiture that layers meaning beneath meaning. “I try to put all of the things that I’ve learned throughout my life into each painting.”
His relationship to the finished work is strikingly intimate, and deliberately distant. Payne treats his paintings like diary entries, turning them to face the wall or placing them in storage after completion. “When I have an art opening and I’m looking at the painting for the first time after months or years, I’m looking at it with fresh eyes like everyone else.” Vulnerability, he says, is not optional. “You have to learn how to conquer your fear and challenge yourself. I have to be courageous. I have to at least believe in myself, and I have to be vulnerable to do that.”
His sights are set firmly on museum walls and upper echelon galleries. Inspired by Mickalene Thomas‘s approach to building a career with intention, Payne describes already having that mindset before he could name it. “I create art for where I want to go. That’s ingrained in me.” The most rewarding part of the process, he says, is simple: the finished piece, seen again as if for the first time.
Meet more of the EMEI cohort in this spring/summer series every week and check them out here!
Powered by Gilead Sciences, GLAAD’s Equity in Media and Entertainment Initiative (EMEI) directly supports Black LGBTQ creators, using the power of art and storytelling to dismantle HIV stigma and drive cultural change.
