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Amy Sherald Quotes

Powerful Amy Sherald for Daily Growth

About Amy Sherald

Amy Sherald (b. 1973) is an acclaimed American portrait artist who rose to prominence following her commission from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. to create a portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama, unveiled in 2018. Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, Sherald spent much of her youth in Baltimore, Maryland, where she received her BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1997 and later an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. Influenced by a diverse range of artists, including Kehinde Wiley, Gerhard Richter, and Elizabeth Catlett, Sherald's style is characterized by her use of vivid colors, flattened perspectives, and evocative backdrops to create emotionally resonant images that challenge traditional notions of portraiture. The subject matter in her paintings often reflects the Black American experience, with a focus on individuals who have made significant contributions to society. Sherald's major works include "My Favorite Dress" (2016), which depicts civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, and "Harriet Tubman" (2017), a portrait of the legendary abolitionist that was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Sherald's most renowned work, however, is undoubtedly her portraits of former First Lady Michelle Obama and late Congressman John Lewis, which have brought her widespread recognition and acclaim in the art world. Amy Sherald continues to challenge and inspire with her powerful and evocative portrayals of Black Americans who have shaped history. Her work is held in numerous private and public collections, including those at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Brooklyn Museum, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I aim to create a space where there is a freedom for the subject to be themselves."

This quote from artist Amy Sherald signifies her intent to produce artwork that allows the subjects to express their true, uninhibited selves. By creating an environment free from societal or artistic expectations, she empowers her subjects to embrace their individuality and uniqueness, thereby fostering a deeper connection between the subject and viewer. This approach not only enriches the viewing experience but also offers a platform for self-expression that transcends conventional portraiture.

"Art is a powerful tool for telling stories about what it means to be human, especially when those stories have been left untold."

This quote underscores the transformative role art plays in narrating human experiences, particularly when those stories are often overlooked or absent from mainstream discourse. By emphasizing the power of art, Amy Sherald suggests that it serves as a vital medium for fostering empathy, understanding, and inclusion by giving voices to underrepresented perspectives, thus enriching our collective narrative of what it means to be human.

"Painting allows me to take my thoughts and feelings and give them physical form."

This quote suggests that, for Amy Sherald, painting is a means of transforming her internal experiences, thoughts, and emotions into tangible, external manifestations. It implies that art is not only a creative outlet but also a powerful tool for self-expression and emotional exploration. By putting her thoughts and feelings onto canvas, she can give them a permanent form that others can see, understand, and connect with. This quote underscores the transformative power of art as both a personal catharsis and a universal means of communication.

"I am very interested in the idea that portraiture can be a vehicle for a narrative beyond just likeness."

This quote suggests that, according to artist Amy Sherald, portraits are not just about replicating physical appearances but also telling stories or creating narratives about their subjects. In other words, her work is more about capturing the essence of a person, their identity, experiences, and emotions, rather than just their superficial features. This approach allows for a deeper exploration and interpretation of the subject beyond mere likeness, thereby enriching the viewer's understanding and experience.

"My work seeks to engage with the complexities of the human experience, particularly as it pertains to identity and history."

Amy Sherald's quote suggests that her artistic work aims to explore and depict the intricacies and multifaceted nature of the human condition, focusing on aspects such as identity and history. By delving into these themes, she seeks to create art that resonates with viewers by reflecting shared experiences, complexities, and the historical context that shapes our individual and collective identities.

Art class was my safe haven.

- Amy Sherald

Art, Safe, Haven, Safe Haven

I want all types of people to look at my work and see themselves, just like I watch a Reese Witherspoon movie as a black woman and can empathize with her because we have had to internalize whiteness in that way to survive.

- Amy Sherald

Woman, Movie, Had, To Survive

A lot of the artists that people equate my work to, I didn't find out about until after graduate school.

- Amy Sherald

Work, About, Equate, Graduate School

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

Own, Why, Paint, Depicting

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.

- Amy Sherald

Back, Annoyance, Half, Everything Else

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.

- Amy Sherald

Black, Kindergarten, Like, Twelfth

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.

- Amy Sherald

Play, Though, Studied, Arabic

My father wanted me to be a dentist like him, or any doctor, really. There was this attitude of, 'The civil rights movement was not about you being an artist.'

- Amy Sherald

Father, Artist, Like, Dentist

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

- Amy Sherald

Weird, Strain, Been, Introvert

I want my portraits to create a space where blackness can breathe.

- Amy Sherald

Want, Portraits, Blackness, Breathe

When I started school, I would draw pictures at the end of my sentences: a house, a flower, a tree, a bird. Whatever was in the sentence, I'd draw it.

- Amy Sherald

Tree, Sentence, Sentences, Flower

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.

- Amy Sherald

Black, Want, Canvas, Hopefully

My mother was willing to support art as a summer program for me. She never supported it as a career decision until I won the National Gallery Portrait Competition.

- Amy Sherald

Art, Decision, Career, Portrait

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.

- Amy Sherald

Tell, Other, Learned, Georgia

I am relieved that I can pay back my school loans.

- Amy Sherald

I Am, School, Pay, Loans

My approach to portraiture is conceptual.

- Amy Sherald

Approach, Conceptual

I blacked out in a Rite Aid. The doctor told me my heart function was at 5 percent. I spent two months in the hospital waiting to have a transplant. For me, that was the end of the world.

- Amy Sherald

Waiting, Months, Spent, Hospital

Art was not a thing for my family and is still not a thing for my family. My family will not go to a museum unless I say we have to go there. That's why I really feel like it was something I was supposed to do because there was no directive that pushed me in that direction.

- Amy Sherald

Art, Will, Still, Museum

Imagination allows you to bend the rules of the temporal world.

- Amy Sherald

Imagination, World, Rules, Bend

Michelle Obama is extraordinary, but she is also the kind of woman that exists in a way that is - she's a hundred percent relatable to all kinds of people, all genders all around the world.

- Amy Sherald

Woman, Hundred, Michelle, Exists

When people ask me about color in my work, I tend to say that it came from spending a lot of time in Panama.

- Amy Sherald

Work, Color, About, Panama

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.

- Amy Sherald

Kind, Other, Having, Photographing

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.

- Amy Sherald

Artist, Going, Becoming, Empirical

I'm not a very verbal person.

- Amy Sherald

Person, Very, Verbal

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

- Amy Sherald

Through, Stories, Paintings, American People

I probably shouldn't curse as much as I do.

- Amy Sherald

Much, Curse

It's hard for me to find people to paint. There has got to be something about them that only I can see.

- Amy Sherald

People, About, Them, Paint

I paint paintings of people.

- Amy Sherald

People, Paintings, Paint

I paint as a way of looking for myself in the world.

- Amy Sherald

Myself, World, Looking, Paint

To be human is to be visible.

- Amy Sherald

Human, Visible

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