Mickalene Thomas

And I think for him, you know, my mother's birthday was coming up, so it was like this energy. You know, my mother's birthday, October 27th. The opening was October 18th. So I think it was this energy. She was there, right? And there was this moment that you had to witness that you could see he was connecting to her.

Yeah. I think still today, I still believe, based on my experiences as an artist, that institutions are not comfortable with the nude black body if it's not stereotypically presented in ways of... I think I present the nude black body in a way of just like celebrating and honoring and putting forth like all of the strong qualities. I think unless it's about trauma.

Yeah. I think still today, I still believe, based on my experiences as an artist, that institutions are not comfortable with the nude black body if it's not stereotypically presented in ways of... I think I present the nude black body in a way of just like celebrating and honoring and putting forth like all of the strong qualities. I think unless it's about trauma.

Yeah. I think still today, I still believe, based on my experiences as an artist, that institutions are not comfortable with the nude black body if it's not stereotypically presented in ways of... I think I present the nude black body in a way of just like celebrating and honoring and putting forth like all of the strong qualities. I think unless it's about trauma.

Servitude, yeah, yeah, or entertainment, yeah. And I think – The gesturing of like us being performative for an audience is still the notions that the boxes in our compartmentalize some visual artists.

Servitude, yeah, yeah, or entertainment, yeah. And I think – The gesturing of like us being performative for an audience is still the notions that the boxes in our compartmentalize some visual artists.

Servitude, yeah, yeah, or entertainment, yeah. And I think – The gesturing of like us being performative for an audience is still the notions that the boxes in our compartmentalize some visual artists.

No, but it's not.

No, but it's not.

No, but it's not.

It just is. And it's the state of resting, the state of being, the state of existing and rooted and grounded in that space, I think, is somewhat threatening to people. of the ownership of it, taking accountability for their own space. I think when that is exuded, that sense of strength is oftentimes kind of felt with aggression or a threat.

It just is. And it's the state of resting, the state of being, the state of existing and rooted and grounded in that space, I think, is somewhat threatening to people. of the ownership of it, taking accountability for their own space. I think when that is exuded, that sense of strength is oftentimes kind of felt with aggression or a threat.

It just is. And it's the state of resting, the state of being, the state of existing and rooted and grounded in that space, I think, is somewhat threatening to people. of the ownership of it, taking accountability for their own space. I think when that is exuded, that sense of strength is oftentimes kind of felt with aggression or a threat.

I've had people say, oh, your images of the women are very confronting. And I said their gaze is very confronting.

I've had people say, oh, your images of the women are very confronting. And I said their gaze is very confronting.

I've had people say, oh, your images of the women are very confronting. And I said their gaze is very confronting.

They're looking straight out at you. They're demanding the space. They're not demanding to be validated. They're just letting you know that they're there. But with all that, too, there's still, you know, the other side is there. vulnerability and sensitivity. And I think it's just one-sided if you're going to look at it as that the women are confronting you.

They're looking straight out at you. They're demanding the space. They're not demanding to be validated. They're just letting you know that they're there. But with all that, too, there's still, you know, the other side is there. vulnerability and sensitivity. And I think it's just one-sided if you're going to look at it as that the women are confronting you.

They're looking straight out at you. They're demanding the space. They're not demanding to be validated. They're just letting you know that they're there. But with all that, too, there's still, you know, the other side is there. vulnerability and sensitivity. And I think it's just one-sided if you're going to look at it as that the women are confronting you.

But I think that comes from their understanding. Like, if you approach an image, I can't control what you bring to it. Because you're bringing these ideas of what you think of black women when they're sort of seated in the position of all knowingness. There's, you know, but we have been, we sat on thrones before. And I think, you know, we've been queens and kings.