Voices Unlocked
We share unvarnished stories from inside America's federal prison system to touch hearts and change minds.
Voices Unlocked
Creative Resistance: How Art Sustains Humanity Behind Bars
Take a journey behind prison walls where artistic expression becomes both sanctuary and act of resistance. In this captivating conversation, artist Kobi Mowatt shares his remarkable story of creating powerful visual art during his 29-year federal prison sentence, revealing how creativity preserved his humanity in an environment designed to suppress it.
Kobi's artistic journey began long before incarceration but flourished within confinement where he developed a distinctive style using pastels—a medium chosen specifically because it allowed him to create in his cell rather than designated hobby areas with limited access. "I just disappear from what's going on in the place," Kobi explains, describing how art transported him beyond his physical reality. "Sometimes it'd be five, six hours I'm gone. I'm not even here, I'm inside the painting."
More than mere distraction, Kobi's artwork became political commentary and historical documentation. His piece "A Beautiful Rising" reimagined the George Floyd protests with bold imagery challenging systemic oppression, while other works connected struggles in Gaza with global resistance movements. These expressions of solidarity and critique reveal how art functions as resistance—and why prison officials actively work to suppress it through censorship and cell raids.
Perhaps most revealing is how society devalues these creative contributions once labeled as "prison art." As Kobi notes, "I didn't want my art to be labeled prison art. I just wanted it to be art." This powerful observation cuts to the heart of how we dismiss human potential behind bars. Co-host Rob Barton puts it plainly: "I'm not exceptional or a unicorn, I'm actually the norm... a lot of the people we advocate for just made mistakes in their life and deserve second chances." Their conversation unveils the extraordinary talent and humanity flourishing despite—or perhaps because of—the harshest circumstances, challenging us to see beyond the label of "prisoner" to the artists, thinkers, and whole persons waiting to be recognized.
Follow this podcast so you'll be informed when new episodes are uploaded (twice a month). Meanwhile, read more stories and learn how you can contribute to reform; visit MoreThanOurCrimes.
PAM BAILEY: Hi, this is Pam Bailey and I'm co-host of Voices Unlocked, which is a podcast produced by More Than Our Crimes to lift the veil, so to speak, on federal prisons and give you a glimpse of the people inside. And today we're actually... We have Rob Barton here as my co-host as usual, and we also have a very special guest, Kobi Mowatt, and we'll get to him in a second. The focus today is on the talents that we find in prison. There's a huge wealth of them and there are many different kinds of talents, but one type is the artistic field: painting, drawing, crocheting. We're going to hear more about that and not only the role that it plays in how they can maintain their sanity while they're in prison, but also as a form of resistance in a lot of respects. So Rob, you were telling me a story about how you first met Kobi.
ROB BARTON: Actually I didn't meet Kobi first. I met his brother. We were in maximum security at Lorton [the old DC prison] and he used to sleep in the back. I walked past his cell on detail, that's the person who cleans up the tier and things of that nature. And so I used to always be back there. He'd be listening to his Jamaican music and he had pictures all over the room that he drew. We just started talking and getting cool and I was really drawn to his art because it was something that I pretty much ain't never seen. I mean, I've seen people draw art, but his was just unique. And then years later, I met Twin (Kobi), his brother, in (USP) Canaan and we became cool. I remember particularly one time he showed me, or somebody showed me, or they told me about some art that he did. And it was of your neighborhood, Seventh and Kennedy joint [neighborhood], or the First and Kennedy joint, and you portrayed different animals in this area to show how their characteristics were like people. You know what I'm saying? That was just amazing to me, like where that came from? And so my question is, what was art for you in prison? How was it helpful? I know for me, writing was therapeutic. To me, it was a form of resistance. A lot of times, once we started More Than Our Crimes, I felt as though I could fight back like that. A lot of times we fight back with our body and our spirit, but through writing, I felt as though I was really advocating to get something through. And I just want to know what you think about how your art played a role in those type of things for you?
PAM: And you may want to start with a little bit of an intro to yourself so they have that context when you talk about what that was to you.
KOBI: So, I ended up serving 29 years on a RICO case. But first, I went on the run. As soon as they put the warrant out for me, I took off and fled the country. I went to Russia and I went to Kenya and I went to Tanzania. And then while I was living in Tanzania, they closed in on me. So I went to the bush and I lived out there with the animals.
PAM: That's where your love of animals comes from. Yeah, and that's where I got arrested. Is that why the animals figured in some of your paintings?
KOBI: Yes, because I lived amongst the wild animals. But even before that I loved animals. Even people in Africa don't really want to live in the bush amongst the wild animals. You got to really love animals to want to do that.
Yeah, I remember you used to tell me about your monkey, how you used to take it with you and all those types of things.
Most people aren't interested in those type of animals. They call 'em pests. But to me they was beautiful creatures.
PAM: But were you engaged in art before you went into prison?
KOBI: Yes, I always did drawing and I always had pictures of cars on my walls, but as time went on I got better and better through experience.
PAM: So what about what Rob asked about this?
ROB: Basically how did that help you fight back or your resistance to the oppression that we was under?
KOBI: It helped because it became like a diary. So as I'm drawing, I'm drawing what's happening in my mind, what's happening in society, what's happening on the news, and it kept me focused and it zoned me out. I just disappeared from what's going on in the place. And sometimes it'd be five, six hours I'm gone. I'm not even there. By the time I come out I'm like, "oh," and I'm inside the painting.
ROB: Like you're in the zone. So they got zones in sports and everything and you just really go in the zone. They say the zone is where you just block out, you don't know...time, time don't have no meaning no more. You're just there. You're at your best. Yeah.
PAM: Did you mostly paint things based on...how much of it was what you saw in prison versus what you heard about going on outside versus fantasy? What was your inspiration?
KOBI: It was all of the above because sometimes I might just picture a scene and it comes to my mind and I say, you know what? Or I might design a car. I say, all right, I'm going to draw this car. And then as I'm drawing this car, I say, you know what? Let me put something in this background. It might be a basketball game. So something might just come to my mind at the time or I'm reading the newspapers and I'm seeing what's going on in Gaza. Or it might be something going on in Chechnya or anywhere. It might be a riots in America. And I put those on the paper. And actually, we're going to show a video right now of you explaining one of your paintings. That was after the whole George Floyd incident.
VIDEO OF KOBI: This painting is called A Beautiful Rising. So in this painting it's what happened during the George Floyd protests and riots, but also my vision of where it could have went. So in here you got the officers lined up and they snatching these people out of their cars and searching them. And people protesting in front of the White House, a bunch of police right there protecting them. But at the same time they already set the White House on fire; they set the police cars on fire. So the protests and the fires went beyond that gate and into the house that belonged to the leaders of the oppression.
And at the same time, the leader was caught; the president, he was caught and they took him out and she's taking him for a ride and she got that Bethlehem [knife] to his neck and she's taking him for a ride and saying, "Come with us," because you're the leader of that movement, and you're the leader of these oppressors with the masks on and the batons and the guns that's lined up out here. You're their boss. So you come with us and we're going to deal with you. And these women in this car in the front, they're just fists-up-in-the-air happy because they're saying, we got him, he's coming with us. At the same time, you see people protesting, their hands up in the air. Some of 'em, they're going up against the officers. You got tear gas everywhere. You got cars on fire and these are police cars. And you got this guy pulling up, he got his Tommy gun and he's ready to mow down everything over here. So here you see him pulling up, he got a car load of people in the car with 'em.
They're just going through the routines of what comes with these type of situations. So tear gas is being sprayed, guns are being pulled, fires are being set, the leader is being taken. And it's called a beautiful rising because it's a beautiful rising of the people against this system. That's why I gave it that name.
PAM: And actually you mentioned sometimes painting about Gaza. One thing I thought was really special was I had put out a call to individuals in the More Than Our Crimes network asking if anybody wanted a pen pal who was living in Gaza. Because I also had co-founded a youth storytelling project in Gaza. And I had writers....Actually, they're very similar to this project in a lot of ways; they were writing their personal narratives to try to break the stereotypes about them. And there's a lot of stereotypes about Palestinians and Gaza, just like there are about people in prison. So I had a project for them and then I founded More Than Our Crimes with Rob. So you answered, you said that you'd like to talk to somebody, correspond with somebody. And I asked my writers, who were in Gaza, who would like to communicate with you. Anyway, so Maram answered and you started corresponding with her. Art actually in Gaza... I lived there for a while... especially public art, I'm talking about (they don't have art museums, etc.) their art is on the buildings and it's very much art as resistance. That's the role that it plays. And you created two pieces of artwork inspired by your conversations with Maram. Why don't you describe one?
KOBI: Okay. Well, one of them is...She sent me pictures of her house that was bombed. So I drew that picture of her house into the background of this painting. And then I had bombed-out buildings around the sides. And then I had nice sports cars. I always throw the nice cars into the pictures.
PAM: Really?
KOBI: I just love them.
PAM: It's like your signature?
KOBI: Yeah, I might spend an hour just on one wheel. I love sports cars. So I threw the sports cars in there and then the women are driving the cars and then you see some of the fighters in the back seat. But at the same time there's a tunnel there as well. And you see some of the people passing rockets down to the people in the tunnel. And then in the tunnel, there's what's going on underneath there. So that was one of them. I did a couple of them dealing with that struggle. One of 'em was just protests. You had one woman with tattoos over her body of everything that was going on. And then another one was where I connected Gaza all the way to Pyongyang.
You know what I mean? So you went through the tunnels in Gaza, you went under the Persian Gulf, there are tunnels that go everywhere. You could go into Yemen, you can go everywhere.
PAM: That shows the interconnectedness of the struggle, which I think is really, really important that we all sort of see and realize that it's all interconnected. I mean it's really the oppression that brings them all together. How did you get materials? You did mostly acrylic?
KOBI: No. Pastels.
PAM: Pastels? All of it?
KOBI: It was, yeah, all pastels.
PAM: Why did you choose pastel as your medium?
KOBI: Well, because acrylic and oil, they don't let you do it in your cell. You have to go down to the hobby craft room. So, you could only get there at certain times of day. And there are times you're going to be locked down. So if you ain't going to be able to get there.
I wanted something that I could do when I feel like doing it. I could do it in my cell, I could do it during lockdowns. And I like the brightness of the colors and you don't have to wait for it to dry. You can blend colors. And could you get a full variety of colors or were you limited? Certain prisons allow it. So when I was in Colorado, a guy introduced me to pastels because I used to just use colored pencils. And when I first used it, I was like, "Oh man, this is"...And I bought a set, then I met another guy. He was like, "That set you're using are the cheap ones. If you use better quality, your work will look better." So I bought that set and it looked better. Then I met another guy and he was like, "The paper you're using is cheap. Get better-quality paper. So now I'm using high-quality paper, high-quality pastels.
PAM: And they make that available? You can't get canvas I guess? Or can you?
KOBI: Yeah, you could get canvas, but you can't use it in the cell. You got to go to the hobby craft rooms. Oh, and why would that be? What's it? Because they think people are going to start painting the walls. And you might use the paint to hide something, stuff like that.
PAM: And what did you mostly work for yourself or did you sell it? Did you give it to other people?
KOBI: Mainly gifts and for myself. I drew stuff that I liked and if I liked it, I figured other people would like it. Then some of the paintings I just did for family members or friends as gifts.
ROB: I know they probably really enjoyed them. I remember you telling me, or somebody telling me, did y'all do art exhibits on the outside or did somebody connect you to help you do art exhibits with your work on the outside? Yeah, I only did one exhibit in Miami and that's because my mom was living there at the time and a dude saw some pieces she went to get framed and she ended up doing an art exhibit there. But ever since then I didn't do anymore because the art dealers, they always want to do it, but I thought their commissions was too high. So I just said I'll wait till I get out.
PAM: How do you get...is it hard to get your work out?
KOBI: No, not, no. You just go to the hobby craft department and just send 'em out. Only way you'll have a problem if you got controversial art. I did one called 9/11 Part 2 and they raided my cell looking for the painting.
ROB: So, that's like our work. I'm quite sure you're still contact with people that's in the feds still. So, we send in a newsletter. I was at a civic engagement conference in Chicago about a month ago. And a person said something that stuck with me. I'm paraphrasing here, but basically what they were saying was that you're know you're starting to make an impact or they're starting to feel your punches when they start trying to subvert what you're doing. And so I don't know, I'm not taking credit, but right now, in the feds, we used to send group emails. Now we physically got to email one person at a time. That's very onerous for a person to just be on the computer trying to do. But this is the way that we was getting our message in to the prison to the guys. And then we was getting messages back from them.
PAM: We have about 2,000 people. Imagine doing that one by one by one. And it's interesting that the Bureau of Prisons, its rationale for doing that is to prevent the radicalization of prisoners, like somehow ISIS or Al-Qaeda would be more likely to use mass emails versus individually emails. I dunno. So what happened if you did a painting like that, where they censored it? They caught it before it went out?
KOBI: Well, what I usually do is I go down to the rec and have 'em take a photo of it just for my portfolio before I mail it out. And this one, when I went to get the copy of the photo, they wouldn't give it to me. And that's the same day I went to mail it out and it was like, "That painting is considered bad taste to the community, so we're not going to let you."
PAM: And what did it show?
KOBI: It was 9/11 Part 2.
PAM: Okay, part 2. So, so I communicate with both somebody right now in an ICE detention facility and also a person in a state prison in Florida. In one case, I tried to send a photo in of me holding a book about Gaza that I co-edited and they refused it. They wouldn't allow it to go in. And then in another case, one of the people wrote a story that he was going to mail to me because it was quite long and he mentioned the intersectionality with Gaza and that was censored. It never got to me.
ROB: I think it just stems from the fact that they are all struggles for resistance and the oppressors don't want that type of message being put out or they don't even want you to think like that. And so I'm always going to target the people that is pushing that narrative because once I stop that narrative then I can deal with everybody else like sheep. So it's always that I'm going to bring pressure down on the ones who show their face or the ones that put up some type of resistance because I want to show you through him that "You don't do this." And so this is why certain people in our network of people don't want to write back on email because they don't want to go through these problems with the administration. And so it's those types of things that's not really highlighted and it is not just in prison.
This is like a worldwide thing. It happened with Mandela when they were fighting against apartheid in South Africa. It happened with the Black Panthers in America when they were fighting against America, they just want to be safe and they're killing black people in the streets every day. And so all these are forms of resistance against "We got to kill that mentality." Me personally, I believe that the reason why our communities are the way they are, or you see us in the state that we are in, is because they tried to kill off that mentality. So they locked up all the Black Panthers or they killed them and all those type of things. And then you look up and now we got drugs and all those type of things. And so you killed that whole mentality, that whole ideology of what's supposed to be or how people was resisting. And so that's congruent with what we talking about; we're resisting through writing and all those type of things.
KOBI: You should have tried to send a picture of holding up a book about Israel.
PAM: That's sounds good to do. I'm going to do an experiment to see if that gets through. I still intend to do that. I could make a case out of it. That's true. Yeah. Well so what's your plan? Now you're in a halfway house.
KOBI: Yes.
PAM:And you're continuing, do you get the same access to materials there? Do you have more access? Is it better?
KOBI: No, they won't let you do artwork in the halfway house.
ROB: You for real?
KOBI: Yeah.
PAM: Why not?
ROB: So you mean to say you had more access to your artwork in prison than you do in the halfway house?
PAM: They're both Bureau of Prisons-controlled.
KOBI: And my case manager even said something about it. He was like, "Man, I wish you could do it in here." He saw the exhibit I got coming up. I showed it to him and sometimes I put passes in to go to art galleries. So he let me go. Matter of fact, the lady that runs the halfway house just asked me if I would help with a mural that they plan on doing in there.
PAM: Have you ever asked her why they don't let you do your own artwork?
KOBI: No, I didn't ask her. But the case manager once he kept saying I wish they could let you. Because they don't let you take food in there either.
PAM: Yeah, maybe it's bringing the materials in, because I know they're really strict. So how are you doing your artwork then while you are in there? Because you're there for a while.
KOBI: When I go out on my passes. Well, the job I had, I didn't have a lot of work to do. So I used to do [my art] there. But then I got fired from that job because the halfway house kept calling me back early. So now I barely get to do it.
PAM: Yeah, that's crazy. And you're there until April right?
KOBI: Yeah, unless I take home confinement.
ROB: Wow. Yeah, we were just talking about that. Both of us did a lot of time in prison. And we always talked about, like, "Man, I don't care what type of restrictions they got ." That's kind of what I'm thinking coming out. Whatever restrictions they got I'm going to handle it, because I know what the other side looks like.
KOBI: Yeah, we can maneuver. Yeah, I just deal with it and yeah, it's harsh and all those kinds of things. It's another year or whatever.
PAM: Well what do you plan to do? What do you see for yourself in terms of using your art when you're out of the halfway house?
KOBI: Well, I hope I could start pushing it around the world, you know what I mean? Selling art and having shows and producing art.
PAM: How could we better support the artists in prison do you think? What would encourage that and support people who have talent?
KOBI: Probably give them a way for people tto buy their art.
PAM: Is there any place that you know of for that?
ROB: I think it would probably be better if we just set up our own forum where we just show prison art.
PAM: Is there anything like that now that you know of where prisoners inside can display?
KOBI: They got places that...Even in Lewisburg (prison) they used to do art shows once every three months with just guys in the prison. Art is down in the basement, people from the street coming. What about online? Online? Is there anything that specializes in...They got a few things that people use, but once they label it prison art, it takes away the value.
So a lot of guys; that's why I never messed with none of those platforms. I didn't want my art to be labeled prison art. I just want it to be art. Because it is. By a prisoner. But it's not prison art.
PAM: I see. That's interesting. I hadn't thought about that. So you mean people are willing to pay less for it?
KOBI: They devalue it once they label it prison art. So a lot of platforms say, "Send your art to us! We sell prison art." And I'm like, "No, I'm cool."
ROB: Because there's a whole demographic of people who hate prisons or don't like prisons. Not so much that they hate prisons. They don't come in contact with prisons. It's not on their radar. The whole issue of criminal justice is not even on their radar. And so the only thing they see is the negative side of it. So it automatically in their mind diminishes the value of it and the people that's doing it.
PAM: But you see, on the other hand, I was thinking at first that there's a whole group of people who...Sometimes, there's art just for art's sake. But then to me, I found with myself, if you know the story of the artist, it makes it more valuable. But I wonder, even with those people, they'd say, well, but I shouldn't have to pay so much for it because you're still in prison.
KOBI: Now if it's an individual and then they say this is his art, and he's in prison... but the art speaks for itself first. That's interesting. But if you push "in prison" first...
PAM: In a way it's a little bit similar to Gaza because I found the same thing with writing from Gaza. There's people who will say, oh, well it came from a Gazan, so therefore we'll feel sorry for them. But will they pay money for it? No. So maybe what you're saying is more opportunities for them to display their artwork in a setting that isn't....
ROB: That doesn't dehumanize and will devalue their work. Yeah.
KOBI:It could say "Art by such and such" and "art by such and such."
ROB: And later on, then I can tell you the story.
PAM: The challenge with that is I was actually thinking through options like that. It would be a tough job to say no to some people because I know some people who do art want to make a living doing art in prison who are not anywhere close to being as good as you are. And then you have the tough job of saying to some people "you're not good enough." You need to have a jury of people who have...
KOBI: But it's all art no matter how good it is.
PAM: Yeah, that's true.
ROB: Whether it sells or whatever happens to it, happens. You're just puting it out.
PAM: True. You're right. You're right. There's that whole discussion. I used to be married to a sculptor and we used to have that debate all the time. What is art? I mean, because we actually had gone to an art show and I thought it looked like somebody had broken wood over their knee and put it in a garbage can. And was that art?
KOBI: Remember the guy who duct-taped the banana to the wall? Sold it for $6 million.
PAM: So what do you think about that? Is that still art?
ROB: It sold for $6 million. It got to be art.
PAM:I know there's a whole debate. I guess it is tue: art is in the eye of the beholder.
ROB: Exactly.
KOBI: And the eye of the person that's creating it.
PAM: Yeah. Well, so in the next episode we're going to take a look at some other things some people may not see as art. I know of, actually I'm going to be showing it in the episode. I had somebody crochet me this beautiful afghan with my name on it. And people often think of it as craft and craft isn't art. But to him it is. And then I have somebody else, you didn't mention this, but somebody else who does these beautifully illustrated envelopes and then he sells that. I mean, so somebody else is sending the mail out. He'll do the drawings.
KOBI: Some places don't allow that.
PAM. Oh. Really?
ROB: Probably a whole lot of places now because this is where prison is at right now.
PAM: What other kinds of art have you seen in prison that you thought was like.. I think tattoo art is art.
ROB: No, it's definitely art. I mean I'll answer. I've seen people making, what is it, frames out of potato chip bags and stuff like that.
KOBI: Ceramics. Some of the places let you sculpt with clay. They got leather shops in some of the places. Every prison is different. But all of them are do oil and acrylic. I think they cut oil out in most of them now, but they have acrylics.
PAM: And what would both of you say about...I think one of the messages I hope people get from this is that there's a lot of talent in prison that is being sort of squelched and not allowed to develop or is not seen. What would you say, what would you want to say to our viewers?
ROB: I say the same thing all the time. I'm not an anomaly. I don't think Kobi is anomaly. There's thousands of people that's in prison that could be out here doing all the work and the same things we doing, whether it be art, whether it be writing, whether it be advocating, whether it just be being a citizen. And I think a lot of times that's overlooked. And we as a society look at people [like us] not only as anomalies, but I think more so like a unicorn. And so you got this unicorn of a person and he's just exceptional, but he's not the norm. He's not like everybody else. And what I would want people to know is that, no, I'm not exceptional or a unicorn. I'm actually the norm. And a lot of the people that we talking about and that we advocate for just made mistakes in their life and deserve second chances and could be doing all the things that we be doing if given those chances.
PAM: And yeah, it's a huge amount of potential
ROB: And it is a huge amount of potential. People can do anything. It's wasting away a lot of the time.
PAM: Well thank you for watching. I hope you subscribe so you'll be notified when there are new episodes. And go to our website MoreThanOurCrimes.org. See you next time.
