10 Ways to Represent Race and Ethnicity Through Contemporary Portraits
Art isn’t just about aesthetics — it’s about identity. It’s about who gets seen, how they’re portrayed, and which stories are told. For centuries, portraiture largely centered whiteness, erasing the vivid spectrum of human culture, skin tone, and experience. But in today’s era of contemporary art, that is changing — powerfully.
As an artist of Southeast Asian heritage who grew up in a multicultural French suburb, I’ve seen firsthand the gaps in representation — and the healing power that comes from closing them. My portraits of women are not just visual expressions — they are statements. Statements that say: You matter. Your roots matter. Your culture is beautiful. You are allowed to be seen.
In this blog post, I’ll share 10 creative and intentional ways to represent race and ethnicity through contemporary portraits — drawn from both my own journey and the broader artistic movement for inclusion and cultural pride.
1. Paint Skin Tones with Truth and Depth
Skin is never just one color. It holds memory, identity, and pride. One of the most direct ways to honor race in portraiture is to paint melanin-rich skin tones with care, dignity, and complexity.
Use layers. Mix warm and cool tones. Show undertones. Avoid defaulting to Eurocentric standards of beauty or lighting. Each person’s skin tells a different story — let it glow.
2. Feature Cultural Hairstyles and Headwear
Hair is heritage. From natural curls, braids, bantu knots, and afros to hijabs, turbans, and traditional headwraps — these elements carry deep cultural significance and deserve artistic celebration.
I’ve often painted women with long black hair or stylized buns inspired by Asian traditions.
3. Incorporate Traditional Patterns or Textiles
You can embed history and meaning directly into your portrait backgrounds or clothing by incorporating cultural patterns — like wax prints, batik, ikat, mandalas, or Indigenous motifs.
I use patterns inspired by Vietnamese and Chinese fabrics, sometimes subtly layered behind the figure or integrated into their clothing. It’s my way of rooting each painting in a sense of ancestral continuity.
4. Celebrate Non-Western Symbols of Beauty
Not everyone wants to be the Eurocentric muse. Real representation means honoring beauty standards from around the world — almond-shaped eyes, fuller noses, melanin-rich skin, and diverse body types.
Paint portraits that feel authentic to the sitter’s heritage, not colonial ideals. When viewers see themselves reflected in art, it shifts their sense of worth.
5. Use Language and Calligraphy
Text can be powerful in portraits — especially when it includes mother tongues or ancestral languages. Whether it’s a quote in Arabic, a name in Hindi, or poetry in Vietnamese, language reconnects us to our roots.
In my work, I layer painted calligraphy into backgrounds using fragments of Vietnamese or Chinese script, sometimes alongside graffiti. These layers become visual echoes of cultural pride.
6. Reflect Multiracial and Mixed-Culture Identities
We live in an increasingly global, mixed world. Yet art often struggles to depict hybrid identities. Show the in-betweenness — the duality — the harmony and the tension.
As someone who grew up between Asian tradition and Western influence, I know what it’s like to feel “not Asian enough, not French enough.” My art reconciles those identities. That’s what inclusion looks like.
7. Explore Migration and Diaspora Themes
Contemporary portraiture can also reflect experiences of displacement, migration, and diaspora — elements that deeply shape racial and ethnic identity.
Consider backgrounds that hint at home countries, visual metaphors like suitcases, or facial expressions that carry longing and resilience. Your canvas becomes a vessel for memory and movement.
8. Highlight Cultural Rituals and Objects
From jewelry and amulets to musical instruments and sacred objects — these items carry meaning beyond decoration. They are lived symbols of culture, often passed from generation to generation.
9. Let the Subject Gaze Back at You
A powerful gaze can reclaim space. When women of color look directly out of a portrait — not submissive, not objectified — but confident, grounded, and bold — it rebalances power.
I paint my portrait subjects with their eyes staring back at the viewer. Their gaze says, “I’m here. I’m proud. And I’m not asking for permission.”
This is the heart of my message: visibility is power.
10. Share Their Stories (or Yours) Alongside the Art
True representation means more than a face. It means voice. Include artist statements, short bios, or poetic captions that tell the subject’s story. Let their history, culture, and dreams speak.
In my exhibits, I share small backstories behind each painting — inspired by real women, their courage, and the cultures they carry. Viewers don’t just see the art — they feel it. They relate. They reflect.
My Story: Painting to Reclaim What Was Lost
Growing up in France as a child of Vietnamese and Cambodian parents, I was surrounded by diversity. But still, the magazines, galleries, and museums I saw mostly showed white faces. The “ideal” was always elsewhere.
When I decided to pursue art full-time, I made a promise to myself: paint what you didn’t see growing up. Paint the women who raised you. Paint your sisters, your friends. Paint the beauty, the strength, the silence, the boldness.
Each portrait is an act of reclamation. A love letter to cultural pride. A declaration: We are not invisible.
Conclusion: Your Art Can Be a Mirror — and a Megaphone
Representation isn’t a trend. It’s a revolution. It’s about restoring balance, honoring stories, and creating a world where everyone can find themselves in color, shape, and soul.
Whether you’re an artist or a collector, remember this: the art you make — and choose to hang — speaks volumes about what you value.
Let it speak inclusion. Let it speak truth.
🎨 Want to fill your space with art that boldly celebrates race, culture, and identity?
👉 Explore original portrait paintings here.
