American - Artist | August 30, 1973 -
Why can't I make up my own characters and paint the people I want to see in the world? I'm depicting the many people who existed in history but whose presence was never documented.
Amy Sherald
HistoryPeopleWorldWantWhyNever
When I found photography, I found this other kind of portraiture of black families and black people who were photographing themselves or having themselves photographed in ways they wanted to be seen.
PeopleBlackPhotographyKindSeen
I paint American people, and I tell American stories through the paintings I create.
PeopleAmericanCreateTellPaint
Once my paintings are complete, the model no longer lives in the painting as themselves. I see something bigger, more symbolic - an archetype.
PaintingMoreSeeI SeeBiggerOnce
I probably shouldn't curse as much as I do.
CurseMuch
I grew up in Georgia, and my mom would tell me how to perform and act. So I learned to repress a lot of myself so that other people would feel comfortable.
MyselfPeopleMeMomFeelTell
When I'm painting and in the zone, it's difficult for me to stop. It can take me half a day to get into that space, and once I do, I only talk to a certain few people who won't disrupt it. Home to sleep and back at it, nothing else outside of getting food. Everything else is an annoyance getting in my way.
HomeFoodDaySleepSpacePeople
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.
WorkHard WorkYouArtistMeanHard
I am relieved that I can pay back my school loans.
SchoolI AmBackI CanPayRelieved
I was at all-white schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade, so I wanted to feel what it was like just to be me and not, like, Black Amy.
MeBlackFeelKindergartenJustAmy
I wanted to be in museums. I don't do things to be small.
SmallMuseumsThingsWanted
My approach to portraiture is conceptual.
ApproachConceptual
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