When I think about Romare Bearden, what most resonates with me is his interest in not wanting to work in a black paradigm. I find his desire to amalgamate various forms of expression—to oppose cultural essentialism—an interracial part of my own work. The piece included here is created solely of images of jewelry and the body. Through composition, I try to test the elasticity of the meaning placed on those images and how they function pictorially, as well as explore the relationship between objects, such as the way jewelry functions as decoration for the body. I was also thinking about how armorial achievements act as abstract portraits. I chose pieces of jewelry, as they are objects that contain connotations of wealth and status. When choosing images of the body, I focus on parts that are communicative, are transportive or evoke desire.