Mickalene Thomas Quotes

American - Artist | January 28, 1971 -

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.

Mickalene Thomas

ColorsThinkRealityYouPowerful

I'm really interested in women, particularly the kind of black woman who has overcome obstacles in her life and transformed.

Mickalene Thomas

LifeWomenWomanObstaclesBlack

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

Mickalene Thomas

WorkMyselfMeDoingActingNow

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

Mickalene Thomas

ResponsibilityThinkArtistSometimes

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.

Mickalene Thomas

GreatArtCreativePeopleMeDesire

You know, the emotion - it comes in my art. The kind of person I am, I can deal with things, and I do and I can, but I'm not a crier.

Mickalene Thomas

ArtI AmYouI CanPersonKnow

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.

Mickalene Thomas

ArtSchoolMeThinkCriticismKnow

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

Mickalene Thomas

CharacterMeAlwaysEraTransforming

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.

Mickalene Thomas

TimeMomentPaintingPhotographyYou

When I started at Pratt, Spike Lee had his 40 Acres and A Mule studios down the street. You'd see Rosie Perez walking around going to Mike's Coffee Shop. So it was this black bohemian.

Mickalene Thomas

CoffeeBlackWalkingYouDownSee

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.

Mickalene Thomas

ArtBeginningSchoolThoughtCareer

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.

Mickalene Thomas

WorkMusicTimeSongBookSummer

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