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| Amy Sherald at the 2018 High Museum of Art David Driskell Award Dinner Photo by Patrice Worthy |
The unveiling of Sherald's portrait initially titled "Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama," brought on as much criticism as it did praise. Sherald who described Michelle Obama as a "sexy, progressive" First Lady painted Michelle Obama with her signature grays skin tone to highlight Michelle Obama's humanity. She then dared paint Michelle Obama with bare arms, a consistent fashion choice made by the First Lady that drew the ire of critics during Barack Obama's presidency. Sherald, who was well aware of the naysayers, took the opportunity to stamp those perfectly sculpted arms into American history.
The new found fame forced the celebrated artist to take some time off - "I'm tired" she says during the weekend that she won the 2018 High Museum of Art David Driskell Award. Sherald sat down to talk about being selected to paint The National Portrait, her love for Baltimore - the city she considers to be home, and how her approach to art has evolved.
PW: How has life changed since you painted the Presidential Portrait?AS: It’s been very busy and people want to take selfies with me now. I have fans that are little boys and girls and they see me walking down the street in Baltimore and want to give me a hug. The studio is very busy and I have recognition now that matters to me.
PW: What is your relationship with Atlanta?
AS: I miss the winters in Georgia. I miss 80 degrees in February. I moved here when I was 28 and it was the good life. You could see Erykah Badu for $10 at Ying Yang. You could see Biggie perform for $10 at the Velvet Room, pre-Olympics it was great. I never thought about having a career in Atlanta. I didn’t see how it could work when I realized what I really wanted to do. I was chasing a dream before I knew what the dream was, and I knew north was the direction I wanted to go. Intuitively I knew I can’t stay here.
PW: What do you think is fueling the New Black Renaissance?
AS: A lot of people say this Black Renaissance could be in response to Barack Obama's presidency, but it’s really hard to get a perspective on it because I’m inside of it and in the process of it happening. I think we're more relevant now and I think we’re producing the best work and some of the most compelling work of this time. I think we have a lot to say.
PW: Do you consider yourself a role model or inspiration as an artist?
AS: I think so for young people in junior high school and even college who were having doubts about whether they could do it. Because I have crossed over to the masses and it makes a difference seeing someone doing what they’re trying to do.
PW: Like so many Black women, you are working yourself into burnout. How are you prioritizing rest?
AS: For three days my partner and I went to Montreal for Memorial Day weekend. I don’t speak French, but he does. I'm the Spanish speaker. We went to the Hudson Valley for three days, so that’s six days. It was nice, but I need two months off. I've canceled all my appearances and shows for the rest of the year.
PW: How has your artwork evolved with your new found status?
AS: I'm kind of veering off and making larger paintings because I have a larger studio now and looking at a lot of photography from Vivian Mare. I just want to explore some tangent space off of that.
PW: What was the process to be selected for the commissioned portrait?
AS: The commission portrait started with Hillary Clinton, so it hasn’t been very long. They put together a portfolio for Michelle and Barack and then they short listed five artists and we sat down with them for 30 minutes in The Oval Office. I found out I got it a month and half later. I was excited, but somehow I don’t show emotion like I should have -I was like that’s cool.
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| Michelle Obama National Portrait titled "Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama" |
PW: How did you choose the dress?
AS: Meredith Koop, Michelle's stylist, and I worked together. It started with 11 dresses and we narrowed it down to four. I made the decision that it shouldn't be a formal dress, so that narrowed it down to two dresses. I decided to only photograph the First Lady in that one because that was the one I liked the most, because that was the one I was vibing on.... she's a sexy progressive First Lady. I recognize it had bare shoulders and was a sundress, but I saw the patterns of Gee’s Bend quilts and that was a way for me to ground that portrait into Black history without being obvious - like the quilts in the Underground Railroad. When I saw it I recognized quilting and I thought about the history and if someone European saw it they might think Piet Mondrian.
PW: How did you feel while completing the portrait?
AS: Because it's such a historical thing and because you’re painting it you feel the weight of that. I couldn’t think of anything else except what it was going to mean. It was a great experience, but it was also so heavy because I was making something for the whole world. I realized you can’t please everybody, and I was focused on getting through it.
PW: What is it that connects you to Baltimore despite living in New York City?
AS: I lived in Baltimore for 15 years and I maintain my Baltimore identity, but I live New York. My favorite thing about Baltimore is the people. I ended up applying to Baltimore because New York applications were early. Once getting out of school, it was a super cheap city to live in and they developed it with the intention of artists to live there. It made sense, because a lot of my friends that moved to New York straight out of grad school aren’t making art anymore because you really have to focus on survival in New York.
AS: Meredith Koop, Michelle's stylist, and I worked together. It started with 11 dresses and we narrowed it down to four. I made the decision that it shouldn't be a formal dress, so that narrowed it down to two dresses. I decided to only photograph the First Lady in that one because that was the one I liked the most, because that was the one I was vibing on.... she's a sexy progressive First Lady. I recognize it had bare shoulders and was a sundress, but I saw the patterns of Gee’s Bend quilts and that was a way for me to ground that portrait into Black history without being obvious - like the quilts in the Underground Railroad. When I saw it I recognized quilting and I thought about the history and if someone European saw it they might think Piet Mondrian.
PW: How did you feel while completing the portrait?
AS: Because it's such a historical thing and because you’re painting it you feel the weight of that. I couldn’t think of anything else except what it was going to mean. It was a great experience, but it was also so heavy because I was making something for the whole world. I realized you can’t please everybody, and I was focused on getting through it.
PW: What is it that connects you to Baltimore despite living in New York City?
AS: I lived in Baltimore for 15 years and I maintain my Baltimore identity, but I live New York. My favorite thing about Baltimore is the people. I ended up applying to Baltimore because New York applications were early. Once getting out of school, it was a super cheap city to live in and they developed it with the intention of artists to live there. It made sense, because a lot of my friends that moved to New York straight out of grad school aren’t making art anymore because you really have to focus on survival in New York.
PW: What is your relationship with Atlanta?
AS: I miss the winters in Georgia. I miss 80 degrees in February. I moved here when I was 28 and it was the good life. You could see Erykah Badu for $10 at Ying Yang. You could see Biggie perform for $10 at the Velvet Room, pre-Olympics it was great. I never thought about having a career in Atlanta. I didn’t see how it could work when I realized what I really wanted to do. I was chasing a dream before I knew what the dream was, and I knew north was the direction I wanted to go. Intuitively I knew I can’t stay here.
PW: What do you think is fueling the New Black Renaissance?
AS: A lot of people say this Black Renaissance could be in response to Barack Obama's presidency, but it’s really hard to get a perspective on it because I’m inside of it and in the process of it happening. I think we're more relevant now and I think we’re producing the best work and some of the most compelling work of this time. I think we have a lot to say.
PW: Do you consider yourself a role model or inspiration as an artist?
AS: I think so for young people in junior high school and even college who were having doubts about whether they could do it. Because I have crossed over to the masses and it makes a difference seeing someone doing what they’re trying to do.
PW: Like so many Black women, you are working yourself into burnout. How are you prioritizing rest?
AS: For three days my partner and I went to Montreal for Memorial Day weekend. I don’t speak French, but he does. I'm the Spanish speaker. We went to the Hudson Valley for three days, so that’s six days. It was nice, but I need two months off. I've canceled all my appearances and shows for the rest of the year.
PW: How has your artwork evolved with your new found status?
AS: I'm kind of veering off and making larger paintings because I have a larger studio now and looking at a lot of photography from Vivian Mare. I just want to explore some tangent space off of that.