What Color Are You?

Can we talk about color without associating it with the color of someone’s skin? The psychology of color research states that hues are associated with different human emotions and behaviors, but when asked, “what color are you?”, skin color often comes into play. Skin color is given so much power, as it is an immediate way to decipher someone’s identity, but is having that knowledge important? Does the color determine our privilege? Giving color the same focus as society gives skin color, the colors within these paintings are coming forward and taking over the subject in various psychological situations. I use the subject of social justice to insist on change in stereotypes through the concept of humanistic emotions; personal and shared. I use color to emphasis the complexities of race and its social and political connections. The portrait and the figure consume me, while I robustly apply the oil paint on the canvas to bring the applied texture to the actual. My work is not limited to the voice of one culture, but is speaking to all in our community, our society, our race; while we respect our differences and honor our similarities.