Fifteen-year-old Tyler Gordon’s work went viral last year when he painted a portrait depicting, at the time, Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris. The young artist has continued to create magic on canvas and is celebrating icons with his new book, We Can: Portraits of Power.
Tyler’s sheer skill and talent is truly fascinating because the young artist is completely self-taught in spite of being disabled.
At the age of five, he was diagnosed as deaf, dealing with a Vitamin D deficiency and issues that caused him to present with a stutter. Gordon did have surgery that gave him partial hearing but the young man was wheelchair-bound for two years as a result of his vitamin deficiency. And, he was bullied for his stutter. Art became his outlet.
“Art has been a huge help in expressing myself and showing people my differences are only positive,” Gordon said in a recent interview with BOTWC. “Now instead of being bullied because I’m different, I can inspire others to embrace their own differences.”
Fast-forward to present day, the truly inspiring young man has crafted a book to pay tribute to some of society’s biggest icons. We Can: Portraits of Power features individuals such as Barack Obama and Janet Jackson.
“I hope people feel inspired after reading the book. I hope that they are encouraged to follow their own dreams by the ones who are already doing it,” Gordon said in his interview. “My art makes people smile, and that means everything to me…I think it’s cool that at my age, I can make such a big difference.”
And making a big difference he is. Especially with his next two new ventures.
Tyler is getting ready to go on tour with violinist Damien Escobar to live paint during Escobar’s shows and promote his book.
Guys my first solo NFT with @SupportCSHP drops today @ 3:30pm PT! Proceeds from this go to help with health inequities, and the artwork expresses exactly what that means to me. I can’t wait for you guys to see all of the pieces. Go to https://t.co/0aNvu7l96G to check it out. pic.twitter.com/JF49xlOUt1
— Tyler Gordon (@tygordonsworld) September 29, 2021
Additionally, Tyler has partnered with Common Spirit to release his first non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to raise money for health inequities.
Congratulations, Tyler! We cannot wait to see what is next for you!
