WELLBORN
Between 2 worlds

2022
mixed media on canvas
95 x 120cm

When you look at me, what do you see?

Am I black am I white or something in between?

Is it wrong to ask? Do I Just ignore?

or is it safer to not ask any more?

For many black fellas in my position, it is a very turbulent road to walk. The idea of identity and your place in the world can bewilder even the surest of minds. Our society has developed such a hostile environment around the idea of cultural identity that most will often choose to leave it “for a later date”, rather then to face it head on.

Being a black fella in a young colonial environment carries with it several challenges rarely explored amongst our peers.

Such things as your worth amongst established black fellas, your place amongst established white fellas, and even as far as your place amongst your own mob!

For a lot of us the journey is fresh, new, and in a lot of cases hard to even know what path you should even be taking to find the answers you require. The fear of standing strong only to be exposed as a fraud or an Imposter is a very true fear amongst many and for us to ignore that fact is to merely highlight this very real modern reality.

The journey for identity is hard, and comes with it a lot of unanswerable questions, but one way or the other this journey must be taken. As a black fella we must never forget that we are not alone, an no matter how isolating this environment we find ourselves in may be we must not forget that our elders before us have faced greater hardships that we could not possibly comprehend and they are still here for us, which says only one thing.

Our Blood runs true! Our Blood runs true!