Every year, RBIJ’s holiday card features art from a justice-impacted individual informed by their experience with the justice system. This year’s work honors that tradition, and highlights the work of an incarcerated artist in Colorado.

About the Artist:
Lynell is an artist from Detroit who is currently incarcerated in Colorado. His art focuses on the power of connection and encourages people to consider life from a new perspective.

“Partiality,” focuses on choosing peace in a world that is often chaotic. He believes that all of us, both inside and outside prison walls, hold a piece of the puzzle to complete this artwork — shown here as Tetris-like shapes.

His artwork has been featured at the 2024 Colorado State Capitol Exhibition, High Walls: Artists Navigate Structures of Confinement exhibit at Redline Contemporary Art Center, and in the 2024 and 2025 Unchained Voices Gallery.

A special thank you to Unchained Voices and Sarah McKenzie for connecting us with Lynell. Unchained Voices is a nonprofit organization in Colorado that holds annual art shows featuring incarcerated artists from across 19 state facilities. Learn more at unchainedvoicesartshow.org.