Stop Putting Me In A Box
Stop Putting Me In A Box is an immersive installation that confronts the pressures of societal conformity, with a focus on how African American women are often expected to adapt to Eurocentric beauty standards. The work explores the long-term impact of these expectations on self-esteem, self-worth, and identity.
Each box in the installation features a charcoal and chalk portrait of a different African American woman, paired with her personal narrative or quote reflecting her experiences with colorism and appearance-based bias. The repetition of the boxes becomes a visual metaphor for restriction, challenging viewers to consider how beauty standards act as containers that attempt to shrink, define, or erase individuality.
Through image and story, this installation gives voice to women whose identities have been shaped and at times constrained by cultural norms, transforming each box into a site of resistance, reclamation, and truth-telling.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (close up shot of the portrait on the box) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (University of North Carolina Wilmington) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (close up shot of the portrait on the box) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (University of North Carolina Wilmington) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (close up shot of the portrait on the box) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (close up shot of the portrait on the box) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Phosphor Project Space) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (close up shot of individual box) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.
Stop Putting Me In A Box (Indiana University of PA) - Cardboard boxes, charcoal and chalk portrait drawings with transferred text on (30) various size boxes. 2018.