Quotes from Mickalene Thomas

Sometimes I think it's the responsibility of the artist to reveal a little more of themselves.

I would have loved to paint Eartha Kitt, but she's no longer here. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet her.

I've always enjoyed film, but I'm a little afraid of it because I think it is very powerful as a medium. You have the visuals, the sound, the colors, all of these things coming at you, and they transport you physically so it becomes this surround sound, virtual reality.

I don't see myself as a photographer. I still see the photographs and collages as a resource for the painting.

I look to a lot of artists who don't focus on one medium, who you can't pigeonhole.

I think what I have done is claimed the space and pushed it forward as much as I can in relationship to who I am and how I live my life.

With photography, you've captured a moment time - it's that moment only - and in painting, you play with it; you manipulate how time is presented. It's about fantasy and illusion and the creation of desire.

I remember when I first saw Whoopi Goldberg doing standup, and she was wearing a sheet on her head, basically pretending to be this little white girl with long luxurious blonde hair. Everyone can relate to that. It's an oral history of black women's lives through laughter.

Once I made the decision to make art despite the obstacles and to make this my priority, things just opened up for me.

Beauty has always been an element of discussion for black women, whether or not we were the ones having the conversation.

I define my work as a feminist act and a political act because I'm black and a woman. You don't necessarily have to claim that, but the act of making art itself is a political and feminist act when you're a woman.

When you look at death, it makes you understand the importance of the moment when you have life and death in front of you, and you witness seeing someone deteriorating in front of you - it's an overwhelming experience. If you don't learn from that, I don't know what else you're gonna learn.

I started making art with art therapy. It's what I know how to do. I got a lot of criticism for that when I was in school. But I think it works for me.

I used to listen to a lot of music in my studio - all the time. But as far as the music that interplays with my work, what I've done and still do is keep a lyric book and song title. The material typically comes from Eartha Kitt, Betty Davis, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston.

My artistic decision to cast my mother's objects into bronze moves beyond the notions of memorializing her. I've been fascinated for some time with the idea of monumentality and what it means to memorialize. Both of these notions are relevant historically, artistically, and culturally.

I'm a black American, and I'm proud to represent who and where I'm from - unapologetically. There's no shame in my game.

The first painting I remember selling was 'Panthera.' I made it while I was in residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the museum actually purchased it directly from me.

When I decided to go to art school, it wasn't necessarily something I thought I needed. No one talked about graduate school when I was an undergrad. I went on to a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and that transition from Yale to the Studio Museum, that was the real beginning of my professional career.

All of my experiences modeling, acting, doing theater, it's all in the work now. And the work freed me to transform myself.

There's a great desire for people to alter themselves, but it's also the art of transformation. 'I want a bigger butt; I want bigger boobs.' The artifice interests me - how we're capable of altering ourselves. There's a creative element that's very intriguing.

What's always intriguing to me is transforming my subjects into a character from another era.

I grew up with a lot of brothers, and I don't have any sisters, so for me it's really important to develop my sisterhood. It's something I've always coveted.

I started making art during high school but thought I lacked the talent to become a true artist.

I am proud to be able to exhibit my work and inspire young people. Especially young black women so they know that they are beautiful, that they don't have to hold onto any negative stereotypes.