Gouache and India ink on Bristol
11 x 14 inches

This piece explores the topic of colourism, by acting as an alternate book cover for the 1929 novel The Blacker The Berry by Wallace Thurman, which explores colourism as a central theme. The clear dichotomy between light and dark in the coats of black and polar bears symbolize this experience. The black bear is larger than and outnumbered by the white polar bears, to represent the way darker-skinned individuals often feel they negatively stand out in spaces of lighter skinned individuals. It resembles this uncomfortable attention which is brought on by a heightened awareness of one’s own skin tone, something which is integral to many individuals’ identity, including my own. More positively, the darker values of the black bear places him in the foreground against the transparency of the white bears, adding assurance to his stance and expression. This conveys the strength of darker-skinned individuals, developed from dealing with the personal impacts of colourism.