The Brown Paper Bag Test

Who gets to decide which shade belongs?

Brown Paper Bag Test is an ongoing installation exploring the history and lasting impact of colorism within the Black community. The work references the discriminatory practice in which the color of a brown paper bag was used as a measure of skin tone, influencing who was accepted into certain social spaces and afforded particular privileges.

The installation is composed of 3,015 individual brown paper bags, each measuring 5 × 10 inches. Some feature hand-drawn portraits of Black women across a range of complexions, placing their faces directly against the brown surface once used as a standard of comparison. Others feature words, quotes, reflections, and historical context that reveal the ideas and experiences surrounding colorism.

The project began with just 150 bags and has continued to grow over time. As the installation expands, the repetition of thousands of ordinary brown bags transforms a familiar object into something much larger, a visual record of comparison, exclusion, identity, and resistance.

Rather than allowing the brown paper bag to remain a symbol of who was considered acceptable, the installation reclaims it as a space for visibility, memory, and conversation.

At the center of The Colorism Project, Brown Paper Bag Test asks viewers to consider not only the history of colorism, but the ways ideas about skin tone, beauty, belonging, and worth continue to shape how people see themselves and one another.

 
The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual word bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Phosphor Project Space wall) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018. (Photo by Centa Schumacher)

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

Ashley_A_Jones_2016-2018 Brown Paper Bag Test Installation shot #2.jpg
The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (individual portrait bags) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 – 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Kipp Gallery at Indiana University of Pennsylvania) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

The Brown Paper Bag Test (Kipp Gallery at Indiana University of Pennsylvania) - Charcoal and color chalk pastel drawing on 5-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 10-5/8"-inch brown paper bags. 2016 - 2018.

 
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