We Aren’t Who They Thought We Were is a portrait-based project exploring identity, culture, visibility, and self-definition through the lens of the African diaspora. Through intimate figurative paintings, the work reflects on the tension between expectation and individuality, questioning the ways Black people are perceived, understood, and often confined by inherited stereotypes.

Rooted in personal experience and observation, the project celebrates the complexity of Black identity while challenging traditional ideas of success, masculinity, femininity, culture, and belonging. Many of the subjects exist in a space between heritage and modern individuality, carrying traces of family, migration, memory, and performance within their presence.

The title, We Aren’t Who They Thought We Were, speaks to the act of becoming something beyond expectation. The work acts as both a reflection and a tribute to those who have felt unseen, misunderstood, or limited by cultural assumptions, yet still found ways to redefine themselves on their own terms.