BLOOM
BLOOM centres Black women not as symbols, but as individuals — self-possessed, present and fully occupying the frame.
Created in 2020, the series extends Bing's ongoing engagement with portraiture and Black representation. Each subject is rendered at a monumental scale, meeting the viewer with an immediate and direct presence.
Alongside the paintings, the voices of the women represented became part of the work. Their reflections on beauty, Blackness, confidence and identity expand the portraits beyond image and into lived experience.
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
48 × 60 × 1.5 in
The subjects' own words formed another layer of BLOOM.
“Beauty and blackness are my first greetings as I enter a room.”
“Beauty is not about conforming to an image that society has of me.”
“It was a black belly that housed me, black breasts that fed me.”
“When I think of Blackness, I'm reminded not only of its beauty but of its strength.”
Portraiture becomes a declaration of presence: the right to be seen, to occupy space and to define oneself on one's own terms.