Quotes from Amy Sherald

I don't think anybody can create in a space where they don't feel comfortable.

The people I choose as models have a quality that seems to contain the past, the present, and the future all at once. It's hard to explain. I can look at 100 people in a room but only find it in one person.

I wanted to be in museums. I don't do things to be small.

I'm painting the paintings that I want to see in museums. And I'm hopefully presenting them in a way that's universal enough that they become representative of something different than just a black body on a canvas.

Success, for me, is staying true to who you are and not deviating off a path.

I paint American people, and I tell American stories through the paintings I create.

Signing autographs is weird. I'm an introvert, so it's been a strain in that way.

I'm not a very verbal person.

I've forgotten a lot of things. I've forgotten how to play the piano and how to speak Arabic, though I studied it for two years.

My brother dying changed me. I didn't realize how strong I was until I lost my brother.

Becoming an artist is not empirical; it's not about hard work. You have to put the work in, but that doesn't mean you're going to make it.

To be human is to be visible.