The Cultural Boundlessness of Black Licorice

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Blackness is not monolithic. This concept is given shape by Self-Portrait, an interactive art piece by Nafís M. White in MoAD’s Unruly Navigations exhibition. It is a captivating and grand display, consisting of a 12-foot-long table adorned with elegant glass jars that each contain a unique flavor of black licorice, all for the public to taste. After wearily conducting my own taste test on these licorices and their wide array of shapes, colors, and origins, I found some that I shockingly enjoyed, a handful that I scarcely tolerated, and one or two that I utterly loathed. I began with the flavor “Licorice Allsorts” from Spain, enticed by the assortment’s whimsical appearance. These miniature sculptures encased in bubblegum pink, vivid blue, buttery yellow, and milky white confectionary were delightful, dancing on my tongue in leaps of fragrant sweetness. What followed was “Meenk Green Peas” from the Netherlands, appearing as small green discs and having the taste and texture of sharp, earthy mints; they left me neither displeased nor reaching for another. But what had left the deepest impression was the flavor “Licorice Starfish,” another Dutch candy. It looked unassuming, inviting even, these black stars coated in what seemed to be crystals of sugar, yet it hit my tongue with a salty, almost chemical-like sting that I could hardly endure for more than a few seconds. These are just a few of my taste-test’s mixed reviews, and my feeling of ambivalence was not an oddity amongst everyone who experienced Self-Portrait. However, these varied results were exactly what White had anticipated.

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White once lived here in San Francisco, studying art and humanities at the City College of San Francisco, and working at Miette, a small patisserie and confiserie shop in Hayes Valley. It was here at Miette that she begrudgingly gave black licorice a chance, only to realize that she quite liked it. Recalling the story, she says in the Unruly Navigations Curator and Artistic Talk (2024)², “What I thought I thought wasn’t really what it was,” and it was this idea that would inspire the creation of Self-Portrait. White’s work navigates Blackness as well as identity and culture in general, and this piece perfectly captures that element of boundlessness that exists within culture––of limitless seeing and imagining. This notion of being wrong in what you think you like and, more importantly, of what you think you know forces us to introspect and perhaps to even confront the barriers constricting our minds. So yes, some black licorice is shockingly tasty, but the point of Self-Portrait is not to highlight this realization in connection to Blackness; the purpose is to convey to the masses that black licorice is an expansive, complex, and polylithic candy that does not always look how you expect it to look or taste how you expect it to taste––whether this be good or bad. The same goes for Blackness and for culture in general, as it exists how it does and will not cater to the way you most favorably envision it.

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Self-Portrait reflects culture and identity as a whole but it is also a deeply personal piece that alludes to specific memories and feelings. Nafís M. White was adopted, raised by a white mother and a Black father, and she has been candid about her complicated journey in navigating her identity. Some of these specific moments she communicates via flavors, saying in the Curator and Artistic Talk that the sweetness of the flavor “Good and Plenty” is a reminder of her and her mother overcoming their tense relationship and interrupting chains of generational prejudice within their European lineage. Touching on the more challenging flavors––those which I had difficulty swallowing or had to spit out––she references the feeling of one navigating life within a space that was not intended for them. Although I am not adopted, I am a biracial Black woman who was raised by my non-Black parent and who grew up attending predominantly white institutions. With that background in mind, it makes sense that White’s work deeply resonated with me and caused me to reflect on the difficulties of navigating my own identity as well as breaking space in environments that expect you to conform. In Self-Portrait, I specifically began to see the intersectionality of being a Black woman who, like White, has been historically disregarded and misunderstood. The piece became something personal to me, as it was not only a metaphor for Blackness but also an embodiment of the diversity and convolution of Black women. At the intersection of race and gender, Black women endure multiple forms of oppression, though one of the most significant ones that is often glossed over is the dismissal of our complexity. Self-Portrait confronts this fact, recognizing the hardship of being forced to deal with things that others do not face.

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Self-Portrait is a piece that allowed me to feel a sense of belonging in the complex world of contemporary art. I often felt confused that in this world, art is not always intended to be easily understood or delightful to our senses, but this piece demonstrated to me how impactful art can be when it is not a one-dimensional display meant to evoke mere pleasure. Self-Portrait is not only a lens into the abstract nature of Black culture, but it is also a true mirror for those who have been taught and conditioned to look at their reflections and see a version of themselves that is simple, societally palatable, and fundamentally false. It is a window into the unadulterated self and a chance to expand our perception of the world around us.

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