LeKeitha Haynes

Titles of works can be descriptive or clever or totally unrelated. What’s your favorite title of a piece you’ve named?

One of my favorite titles is “In Harmony” because it taught me to trust my creative intuition. When the image first came to me—two men playing trumpets, facing opposite directions with music flowing between them—I didn’t fully understand why I needed to paint it. I had been listening to a lot of Motown and thinking about the relationship between musicians, how they have to listen to one another so closely that they almost become one voice while still remaining individuals. The meaning didn’t become clear until I attended the National Museum of African American Music’s Women in Harmony Summit in Nashville. There, I watched Grammy-winning father-daughter duo Fyütch and Aura V perform music from their album Harmony, and everything clicked. I realized the painting wasn’t simply about music—it was about harmony itself. It’s about how two people can have different perspectives, walk different paths, or even face opposite directions, yet still create something beautiful together when they’re willing to listen to one another. That’s why “In Harmony” remains one of my favorite titles. It reminds me that some of the most meaningful work doesn’t reveal its purpose until we’re ready to understand it.