Centering Black women: Mickalene Thomas’ vision in art and luxury

Mickalene Thomas has built an internationally acclaimed career by challenging dominant narratives of beauty, femininity, and representation — and by centering Black women in spaces they have long been excluded from. Known for her vibrant, multilayered works that merge painting, photography, collage, and installation, Thomas creates images that exude both strength and vulnerability. Her art reclaims visual space for Black women to be seen in their full complexity. Thomas’ practice is also deeply personal, rooted in self-love, healing, and the act of depicting women outside the narrow beauty standards that have shaped the Western art historical canon. In a conversation with Jing Daily, she discusses topics including the politics of representation and the joy of seeing audiences connect with her work in life-changing ways. She also reflects on how collaborations with luxury houses like Dior allow her to expand her reach without compromising her vision. Her work invites viewers to reflect, see themselves differently, and challenge the racial constructs and beauty ideals that have persisted for centuries. Jing Daily: You’ve worked at the intersection of art and luxury for some time. What do you think about brand collaborations, and how do you stay true to your vision? Mickalene Thomas: For me, luxury collaborations are a great way to expand my audience, as long as they align with my values and extend my practice without compromising my vision. When rooted in purpose, it’s a win-win for both sides. I’ve been fortunate to work with brands that allow me to keep what’s meaningful — celebrating Black women and beauty — while positioning my work on another tier of visibility. A Dior collaboration, for example, might be someone’s first encounter with my work. They see the bag, then discover my art, and that relationship grows, sometimes leading to collectors. Luxury brands can and should offer platforms for artists, including emerging voices, across fashion, visual, and performance art because these worlds are interconnected. For me, it’s a fun challenge to keep my authentic voice while reaching new audiences. Some people collect every bag I’ve done with Dior; others move on to collecting my prints. It’s about access and creating points of connection. These partnerships don’t work for everyone, but if you can collaborate in a way that benefits you while staying true to your aesthetic, the work should still look like yours — not just theirs. JD: You’ve spoken a lot about the importance of self-love and healing in your work. How is that reflected in your creative process? Is it informed by your personal journey? MT: I think so. A lot of my creative practice is intimately tied to my own journey, spiritually and sensually. When I come to the studio, I’m not just making an image; I’m building a body of work rooted in truth, healing, and dealing with the self in a radical way. It’s about accepting the terms of my own life, the life around me, and what that means for the images I put out. That’s where the responsibility of vulnerability comes from — knowing the complexities of who you are, where you are, and the spaces you navigate, and how that can impact and inspire others. When I depict women, especially Black women, I think about how we’ve been denied spaces of softness and intimacy. The environments I create reclaim and recontextualize who we are and how we inhabit space, including our sensuality. They’re spaces where we can see ourselves reflected, adorned, and centered. That’s where the healing and self-love come from. Every piece I make is a love letter to myself and others. I’m learning — and hoping — that my work positions us in a different light, where we understand the power of our voice. The more we see ourselves in positive images, the more we align and strengthen in numbers, knowing there are others who look like us, feel like us, desire the same things, and hold themselves in great regard. You can be two things at the same time — and that’s okay. JD: When you talk about reclaiming concepts of sensuality, femininity, and softness, could you share examples from your work, like Origin of the Universe or other reimaginings of art history? MT: Yes, Origin of the Universe is one, Odilisque is another, as well as pieces like The Guitar Lesson. They recontextualize the Western art historical canon. I actually prefer the word “claiming” over “reclaiming,” because it’s about positioning and honoring the presence of Black women in our stories, giving them agency. Traditional depictions have centered one narrow ideal of beauty, pushing others to the margins and making that standard the mirror we’re told to aspire to. I want to disrupt those gazes, reframing works referencing Manet and Matisse by re-centering the Black body. We’ve always been part of these histories but often in roles that served others, not us. Over time, as I’ve moved from collage to painting to video, installation, and performance, I’ve pushed against the boundaries of how we’re told to view ourselves, creating work that reflects us differently. It’s a constant flipping — rewriting the stories so we control how we’re seen. Without mirrors, light, or reflection, there’s no way to know our own image. When the dominant images of us are erased, altered, or fabricated, they narrow our existence to a particular idea. My work challenges that, showing we’ve always been here, in our own beauty, on our own terms. JD: For fellow women of color and allies in similar spaces, do you have thoughts on post-colonial notions of beauty today? MT: It’s heavy and layered. While there’s a shared familiarity among women, there are also big differences in how cultures reinterpret beauty, from skin whitening to avoiding the sun to distancing from African or person-of-color heritage. These ideas of lightness as good and darkness as bad persist globally. My work speaks to how identity, beauty, and representation are understood across cultures. While I depict Black American women — specifically urban Black women — they can stand in for women anywhere. Whether in Asia, South America, Europe, or Africa, reclaiming visibility within beauty politics is deeply layered. I use my work to inspire audiences to see a range of bodies and aesthetics as equally valid. There’s widespread body dysmorphia, and shifting it requires accepting all forms of beauty without hierarchy. Fashion and media shape how we see ourselves; if we’re only shown one desired form, we chase it because humans crave acceptance. To be different often means isolation — though that’s starting to change. The younger generation is opening dialogue around colorism, gender expression, and the gaze on women of color, challenging Western narratives shaped by colonization. The more we see ourselves through diverse lenses, the more cultural shifts can emerge — ones that can be celebrated and centered universally. JD: That’s so powerful. It’s great when you see a work of art that really moves you in person. MT: For me, that’s the greatest joy. I remember my show at the Brooklyn Museum in 2012 — my first major one in New York. As you entered, my large painting Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe was front and center. An older woman stood there, mouth slightly open, eyes bright, smiling softly. I slid next to her, and she kept saying, “Wow, look at us. Look where we are. Look how beautiful.” She said she wished she could meet the artist, and when the curator introduced us, she was overjoyed, thanking me for letting her, and us, see ourselves that way. That’s all you need — one person to feel that connection. Even someone from a different generation relating to the power of the image matters. The joy, the presence, the embodiment — seeing women in a form of desire, sensuality, grace, and elegance, not reduced to stereotypes or trauma. Moments like that woman’s reaction keep me going, reminding me why I make the work. Jing Daily presents Jing Masterminds — a fortnightly, exclusive interview series profiling today’s most iconic names in art, fashion, commerce and culture. Delving deep into their personal journeys, creative processes, business strategies and societal impacts, the series offers readers an intimate look at the lives and minds shaping our industries.

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Mickalene Thomas’ vision in art and luxury