Daniel Longan

I grew up in the Greater King County area of Washington state. While my first experience with incarceration was at the age of 20; I received my current sentence of 40 years at the age of 27 and have remained incarcerated since. 

I found art at a young age and dabbled in it throughout my life. I have used it as a way to express the things I enjoy and find peace. I have worked in the pen and ink medium, mixing in markers as well as colored pencils, but graphite and pencil is the medium I enjoy to work with most. I am a fan of all forms of art, but portrait work is what I most enjoy. I recently discovered freelance illustration as a way to be productive and have a voice in prison reform. I have had work published in several places: JSTOR, The Kitchn, Type Media, and many more. This work introduced me to the possibilities of using my art as a way to support the changes I wanted to see within the carceral system. 

My mission is to educate people using my art as my voice to show them that we all deserve to live as we choose, and that we should be able to do so free of judgment. It's also important to me that I show society that just because someone is in prison that doesn't mean they have nothing left to contribute, or should be discarded and exiled as an outcast. We are ALL more than our worst mistakes.

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