Biography

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M Winston is an incarcerated artist within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections system, with six years remaining on his sentence. Winston, 55, has made drawings and paintings since he was a child in Mississippi.

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As a form of meditation, Winston makes tiny paintings, most no larger than 2 by 2.5 inches. Part of the reason for the small scale is that if an inmate makes anything larger than 8 x 10 inches, it cannot be kept in their cell. The paintings are abstract but allude to places all over the world, providing a way for Winston to translate what he is thinking and imagining, while expanding his prison life exponentially. In these paintings, Winston travels freely. 

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“I store five to seven paintings in my head every day,” he said, “My way of painting small helps me make room for what’s to come.”

M. Winston has for a number of years participated in Buddhist study groups that are offered at prisons around the state by Buddhist teachers in a program coordinated by Tonen O’Connor of the Milwaukee Zen Center.

“Art is what I feel. It is deep in my soul: It’s my Enlightenment and part of my Nirvana.”

Proceeds from the sale of his work go into a savings account that he can access upon his release. 

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