Mickalene Thomas

In my family, growing up, the women were always the ones who were powerful, and they exuded this charisma of empowerment that I hold onto and always remember. I had some difficult times, but these strong women were always a constant.

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.

There's a greater power and charisma when a woman is aware of her sexual prowess when it's not necessarily about victimization or someone else's pleasure but her own feeling about her own body and understanding and loving herself.

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

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.

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.

I don't think an artist should always know why they gravitate toward something or someone. You are just drawn to things, and that's OK.

I've always been interested in masking, layering, dressing up and beautifying yourself and what that meant to black women. I've always wanted to make things that I haven't seen before.

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.

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

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