Photo courtesy: Christopher Barnhart
It started when Christopher Barnhart went to the art store and bought utensils with a
scratch board.
Within two weeks, he had sold two of his pieces.
Barnhart takes razor blade art to another level with his business razor artwork.
“I made a promise that if God continues to bless me with the gift of art, I will continue,”
Barnhart said.
Barnhart works in a home-based studio in Tallahassee and focuses his artwork on the
ideas that come to his mind. His work ranges from Afrocentric paintings, sports to
personal portraits. He started off with black and white razor blade work but recently
started to add color.
“My son’s artwork is excellent and very detailed. He is dedicated to his work, and he
stands on his own,” his father Cornelius Barnhart said.
Barnhart grew up drawing with his father and he encouraged him to continue razor
blade art.
Kenya Horne is a collector of Barnhart’s work and wrote a poem to his piece titled
“Infinity.”
“His artwork is beautiful, and every piece tells us a story, it links us to our heritage,”
Horne wrote.
“Infinity” is the face of a man from an African tribe. Every inch of the face has positive
messages and the more you analyze the piece you discover new symbols.
It took Barnhart over six months to create and show the true meaning of African history
and present day. His face is black and white, and his jewelry is where he added color.
“I had ‘Infinity’ up on the wall and he seemed lonely, so I thought to myself what his wife
would look like and decided to draw her too,” Barnhart said.
This is his most famous piece, and it gave him motivation to keep going.
“I am a true artist, it is my passion and my everyday life,” Barnhart said.
He said that anyone who wants to pursue a career in the arts, “Enjoy what you are
doing and be super experimental.”
Barnhart contributes to culture by wanting his artwork to stay with people forever, for
future generations to use his artwork as inspiration.
“We are so diverse as people and within my artwork every time you look at a piece you
find something new. Just like a person, they surprise you in ways you cannot imagine,”
he said.
Barnhart plans on going back to school and pursuing a degree in an art program.
To see more of his art, visit his website Razorartwork.com or go to his Instagram page
@razorartwork.