Active and embodied, “carry” implies weight, effort, and choice, tying together the wood-panel drawings (history living inside present bodies) and Interactive Erasure (visitors physically carrying out the labor of revealing what’s underneath). The collective “we” pulls the viewer into implication rather than distance, and the title bridges past and present without needing to spell out “history” or “memory” outright — giving both bodies of work a shared through-line.

I make art for people who avoid talking about race, so they can open up and have honest, productive conversations.

Around 2020, my practice underwent a significant shift, moving from searching for meaning to investigating it. That change was shaped by the murder of George Floyd, an event that forced me to confront my own relationship to race, injustice, and silence. Since then, my work has centered on social justice, racial inequality, and the historical systems of oppression embedded in American culture. I believe America is trapped in a cycle of perpetual inequity. My work seeks to slow that cycle down, to examine and expose the structures that sustain it. Drawing has become a way of peeling back the anxiety surrounding race and exploring where honest conversation might lead.

I am currently investigating historical truths related to slavery through objects of oppression. I work on wood panels, where the natural grain functions as a surface already marked by time. Objects are drawn in pen and ink with figures layered over them in ink and coffee washes, creating a dialogue between object, figure, and surface that suggests history living inside the present bodies. These works are intentionally small in scale, creating deliberate intimacy. Each piece functions as a drawing and as a study for something larger — an ongoing investigation into acknowledgment, reflection, and what art can open that ordinary conversation cannot.

Josh Kramb is a visual artist whose work explores memory, psychological tension, and the lasting impact of social history. Born in Texas and raised in Dallas, he earned a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Oklahoma in 1996 and an MFA from Pratt Institute in 2000. He currently lives and works in Kingston, New York.

Kramb’s practice centers on pen-and-ink drawings on wood panels and aquaboard. Engaging directly with the natural grain of the surface, he develops imagery through a process of observation and intuition, allowing forms to emerge from within the material. His layered approach — combining ink and coffee washes — creates stark contrasts of light and shadow, evoking a sense of mystery, tension, and psychological depth. Figures in his work often appear intertwined with or embedded in objects, suggesting complex relationships between body, memory, and environment.

In recent years, his work has shifted toward investigating themes of racial injustice and systemic inequality in the United States. Through depictions of objects tied to histories of oppression, Kramb examines how the past continues to shape contemporary experience. His intimate-scale works invite close viewing and reflection, creating space for dialogue around difficult and often unresolved histories.

Kramb has exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent highlights including the 2025 “New Drawings Exhibition” at Kentler International Drawing Space, curated by Samantha Friedman of The Museum of Modern Art; “Ink, Press, Repeat: A National Juried Printmaking Exhibition” at the University Galleries at William Paterson University, curated by Curlee Raven Holton; and “To Altar or Abolish” at Yavapai College Art Gallery. His work is held in private collections.