Born in the midst of the civil rights movement and therefore too young to experience it first hand, Laylah Ali watched replays of the social revolution on public television as she grew up, but found the 1980s and 1990s unsympathetic times for heroic deeds. Her gouaches on paper are typically filled with action, much of it violent. Men, women, and children are all involved in the pointless violence, whether it be as victims or perpetrators. Her two largest series are, "Blueheads" and "Greenheads," which resemble cartoon-like characters. These open-ended gender characters force the viewer to attempt to make sense of their odd and violent behavior. In many respects, Ali's paintings resemble comic books. But whereas comic books often tell stories with obvious heroes and villains, Ali's painted narratives are not so straightforward.