BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — News of the Orlando shooting hit close to home for Russell Boyle.
The Bed-Stuy resident and business owner was reminded of his younger days at dance clubs and was struck hard by the resemblance between an old friend and one of the 49 victims killed on June 12.
“It brought up a lot of hardcore, deep-rooted issues for me as a gay person,” Boyle, 42, said.
“The first person I saw that had been slain in the massacre reminded me very much of a friend of mine that I used to go to the clubs with,” he added, speaking of 20-year-old victim Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo.
“I feel very connected to the victims.”
He took to pencil and paper to pour out his emotions, drawing a portrait of Ocasio-Capo as a “healing process.”
“I was going through the emotions of reliving my life and thinking about what he [Ocasio-Capo] experienced as a 20-year-old in a situation where you’re celebrating the rest of your life, if you will,” Boyle said.
As he continued to read about the lives lost, he made a decision to continue illustrating each individual as a tribute.
He posted the portraits on his Instagram and Facebook accounts, including a brief description of each person.
There’s Brenda McCool, who died protecting her son; 25-year-old Enrique Rios, a social worker from Brooklyn who was visiting Orlando on vacation; Juan Rivera Velazquez, a Florida salon owner — they were among the dozens who lost their lives when gunman Omar Mateen opened fire inside gay nightclub Pulse before being killed by authorities.
“So many of these people were doing great things for society. It’s a conversation important for me to continue, to produce, and put out there — we’re a vital part of society,” Boyle said.
“Hatred stems from home and learning and education, and it's important to do anything that we can to continue to educate and put a face and a name to the people who were lost in the tragedy.”
Boyle, who owns a vintage furniture store in Williamsburg, said he had always been into art since he was a child but has no professional training, He'd returned to painting and drawing as a hobby in 2000.
Some of the victims’ relatives have been in touch with him after discovering the drawings online, he said.
“I didn’t realize how helpful it would be for people. I realized I felt a need to honor all of the lives and hopefully continue the conversation, so that this isn’t just another story that gets lost in the mainstream of political bulls—t… There’s more than talking about this that can be done,” he said.
Within a week of the shooting, he’d completed eight portraits, drawing one each day. The process is challenging and tear-filled, he said, dealing with the heavy emotion that comes with the tragedy and the personal reminders of his own coming out and experiences with assault.
“I don’t want this to just fade away until the next tragedy happens. I’m hoping this will help people understand that this is a deeper issue than terrorism, this is a hate crime and this is embedded in our society,” Boyle said.
“We have to rip it open and we have to let it bleed and work together to repair the damage so we can move forward and evolve as a people. Something’s wrong here and we really need to change that.”
After starting the tribute, he said he feared the drawings would trigger sadness on social media “on a daily basis,” but continued the portraits as a way to push forward.
“Sadness is a part of it, anger is a part of it, and you can’t have one without the other without love to make change.”
Boyle hopes to make prints of each of the pieces to provide them for the victims’ relatives, as well as offer them for donations toward charity organizations to help the families and LGBTQ groups.