THE COLORISM PROJECT
Art. Identity. Colorism. Conversation.
The Colorism Project
The Colorism Project is an ongoing body of artwork, research, and educational experiences exploring colorism and its impact on identity, representation, beauty, and belonging.
What began as my MFA research has grown beyond the studio into exhibitions, artist talks, student experiences, workshops, and conversations across communities.
EXPLORE THE PROJECT ↓
THE STORY
It Started With a Brown Paper Bag.
My research into colorism began with a painful question: How does the shade of someone's skin influence how they are seen, and how they learn to see themselves?
The project draws from the history of the Brown Paper Bag Test, a discriminatory practice in which a brown paper bag was used as a reference point for skin tone. People whose skin was darker than the bag could be excluded from certain social spaces, organizations, and opportunities within some Black communities.
I began using the brown paper bag as both a material and a symbol, transforming something associated with exclusion into a surface for visibility, storytelling, and conversation.
THE INSTALLATION
Thousands of Bags. Thousands of Faces.
BROWN PAPER BAG PORTRAITS
The Brown Paper Bag Portraits have grown into an installation of more than 3,000 individually drawn portraits, each created directly on a brown paper bag.
Together, the portraits transform a simple object once associated with judgment based on skin tone into a collective statement about individuality, humanity, and representation.
MORE THAN ONE BODY OF WORK
The Project Expanded.
HAIR IDENTITY
Hair • Beauty • Culture • Black Identity
STOP PUTTING ME IN A BOX
Identity • Labels • Perception
BROWN PAPER BAG PORTRAITS
Portraiture • Colorism • Representation
BEYOND THE GALLERY
The Work Became a Teaching Tool.
Over time, The Colorism Project moved beyond the walls of galleries and museums.
The artwork became a starting point for conversations with students, educators, and communities about colorism, identity, representation, beauty standards, and belonging.
Those conversations eventually helped inspire Shades of Us, a collaborative educational art experience that invites participants to look closely at the colors within their own skin and explore the diversity that exists within every complexion.
From Galleries to Classrooms.
The Colorism Project has been exhibited and presented in galleries, museums, universities, schools, and cultural spaces, creating opportunities for audiences of different ages and backgrounds to engage with conversations surrounding colorism and identity.
THE COLORISM PROJECT TODAYThe Conversation Continues……
The Colorism Project began as an exploration of my own questions about color, identity, and representation. Today, it continues through art, research, education, and conversation.
Rather than providing simple answers, the work creates space to look closer, ask questions, share experiences, and examine how ideas about skin tone continue to shape the ways we see ourselves and one another.