In the Middle
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Erin Isn't Black or White, She is Just Erin , 20 "x20", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Passing , 40"x50", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

White Girls , 40 "x50", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Chicken Eaters , 50 "x40", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Whigga What? , 20 "x20", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

That Nigga's All Mixed Up , 50"x40", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Transformation Misinformation, 40"x50", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

White, Black, and Confused , 50"x40", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Hunger Pains , 50"x40", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Your Blackness is in Your Hair, 40"x50", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

De-Blackification, 50 "x40", oil and graphite on canvas, 2005

Artist Statement

I do figurative art, mainly self-portraits, about being bi-racial. My paintings explore the space that I exist in as a bi-racial person. This space consists of a constant affirmation of self. The push and pull to fit into either dominant white culture, or some mode of a black aesthetic, and not having a place in either. My racial identity is often challenged. I identify as a black man, but it is not uncommon for someone to assume that I am Caucasian because of my light skin. On the other hand, I have also been the victim of racism due to my "blackness." I am white around my black friends and black around my white friends. Where do I belong? This is the question that I ask myself, this is what I paint about, and this is the space that I live in. Although I am a painter, I have also branched off into video and performance work. Artists such as Robert Colescott, Beverly McIver, Michael Ray Charles, Glenn Ligon, and Kerry James Marshall have influenced my work. My stories and experiences are the subject matter of my art. In conveying these multiple identities I have often painted my figures in blackface and whiteface to talk about identity.

Historically, blackface is the makeup used by a performer in order to imitate a black person. This derogatory imagery was used to perpetuate racist views, stereotypes, and continues today. The times I have experienced racism were the times I have felt the most black. I have been the victim of prevailing attitudes about race and race mixing. I also use blackface to literally make myself black. By becoming the stereotype, I own the imagery. I use the imagery as a vehicle for personal reflection and dialogue.

I use the whiteface makeup as a way to homogenize the figures. They literally become the color "white." It is a mask. The mask of the oppressor, yet, it is also familiar. It connects me to my family household, where my mother is white, my sister is white, my aunts and uncles are white, and where my childhood experiences have predominantly white experiences.

The importance of "otherness" in my work is that it is an alternative to the white/black dichotomy. "It is common to hear someone say, 'One parent is black and one is white, so the child is half and half.' This describes the child's marginal social group status." This place of otherness is ultimately what, and where, my paintings are referencing. I am trying to qualify this space. This is the place that I identify with. I believe most mixed race people know this space of otherness, marginalization, and emptiness. It is a shared experience.

I have struggled with identity my whole life. It is fluid, dynamic, and there are multiple choices. In America I am black, but I could pass for white, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Caribbean, Creole, Middle Eastern, and most other mixed or colonized peoples. My work is making something new out of the old. There is a chance to create a new identity that is not tied to American racism. I am searching for commonality in the experiences of black/white mixed race people. It is a chance for a new people. In his novel, The House Behind the Cedars, Charles Waddell Chesnutt introduced a mulatto character, John Warwick, who, along with his sister, had "passed" for white and made his way well up into the planter aristocracy of South Carolina. At one point in the story Warwick explained to a white friend that "you must take us for ourselves alone - we are new people." This is how I feel.