For Show

Oil on linen 39”x63”
“For Show” is a portrait of a Black woman with her face delicately covered in jewels, challenging the viewer to confront the fine line between reverence and objectification. The jewels are beautiful, but their presence raises a question: is she being honored, or is she being displayed?
This piece explores the historical and modern tendency to commodify Black beauty—celebrated, desired, and imitated, yet often not protected or truly valued. The woman’s calm, direct gaze contrasts with the ornate embellishments, asserting her autonomy while highlighting how society projects its ideals and fantasies onto her.
She is not an ornament. She is not for sale. She is a person beneath the glitter.
By covering her face in jewels, I invite viewers to sit with their own reactions. Do they see her first, or the shine?