Listen, you a wonder. You a city of a woman. You got a geography of your own, 2016

Amy Sherald: Listen, You a Wonder, You a City of a Woman, You Got a Geography of Your Own. The title for this painting comes from Lucille Clifton's poem, what the mirror said, which is a powerful affirmation of Black womanhood, self-worth, and embodied identity. 

On the summer day in Baltimore that this model showed up for this photo shoot, I had her come around 11AM because I wanted the sun to be in a particular position to capture the shadow on her face with this hat. So it added a sense of mystery along with her posture and the way she's holding the purse. And if you look at her ring finger, you'll see that the ring is not there. 

I have always worked from photographs along with using images on my laptop as reference. Photography has been essential to me because it was my earliest connection to history, both personal and collective. Growing up I had only two photographs of my grandparents. Those were likely the only time they had the opportunity to take portraits in their lives. The absence of imagery shaped my relationship to portraiture because they make me deeply aware of their power to affirm presence, identity, and lineage.