Parts to a Whole emerges from an investigation of the word Black, not as an identity rooted in specificity, but as a blanket term imposed upon diverse, melanated peoples. The series examines how Blackness has been historically framed as both hyper-visible and unknowable, reduced to a single descriptor that obscures cultural difference while carrying the weight of projection, fear, myth and pride. History tells its truth in a scattered light, leaving parts of itself in complete darkness.

Through fragmentation and accumulation, each piece functions as a partial unit rather than a complete image. Darkness becomes a space of the unknown, while light highlights what history chooses to illuminate. The obscurity of the figures transforms otherwise familiar forms into something mysterious, even unsettling, emphasizing how perception is shaped by what is hidden as much as what is revealed.

Parts to a Whole proposes Blackness not as a monolith, but as an unstable construction shaped by projection, reclaiming and selective memory. The work asks how meaning is assembled, who controls visibility, and what remains unseen when complexity is collapsed into a single word.

Acrylic paint, molding paste, charcoal on masonite mounted on wood 32”x 40”