Racial Sterotypes

Here is an older graphics project. It is from a class that I took with David Carson.  We spent most of the class on one series of projects.  The assignment was to create a lecture that we would give about ourselves or our art work.  My talk and book were all about the myriad of racial stereotypes and prejudices that I have seen and experienced.

This 24"x36" poster was accepted into the AIGA Denver's Annual Student Exhibition in 2009.  

This quote is from my grandma.  When she found out that I was getting married she was overjoyed, not because I was getting married, but rather because I wasn't marrying a "nice white boy."  She then continued on about why she was glad that I was not marrying a black man.

Both my parents are white yet I am black, and maybe Native American (but I didn't know that was even a possibility until I was in college).  When I was little, kids would ask why I was black...

...so my book title would be "Why are you black?"

...One of the many responses that I came up with was that "the chocolate milk man brought me."

Different people would tell me that I "am so white" and I "am so Black" in the same day...talk about confusion.

Alternative book covers

Another challenge that we were given just for fun was to create a postcard or some sort of mailer for our talk.  We actually had to send them to David Carson using USPS.  Part of the challenge was to see what we could convince the Post Office to send.  Mine did send even though I had his name crossed out replaced with the title "racist."  David was really embarrassed when he picked it up. 

I am currently working to complete another body of work that is based on race.  Instead of focusing on racial confusion, I would like to focus on Black Beauty and/or what it means to be black in America.  I will be having a show in November, 2011 in the University of Wyoming Up Gallery that will be based on racial issues in the United States.  I will be producing the work this summer.