Major influences on his early artistic development included the works of Romare Bearden, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and the 1970s Black arts collective AfriCOBRA.

I celebrate humanity as godly images, the embodiment of the four essential elements of earth, air, fire, and water."

He took part in the national touring exhibition “To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities".

A solo exhibition Urban Warriors: A Retrospective[11] in the Shot Tower Gallery at Fort Hayes, highlights the strength and energy of his body of work.

[12] In May 2019, was the exhibit Start at Home: Influence, Commitment, Integrity at Urban Arts Space at Ohio State University.

There were 143 artworks by H. Ike Okafor-Newsum, Robert J. Stull (1935–1994) and Pheoris West, who all taught in Ohio State's art or black studies departments.