The multimedia artist Mickalene Thomas (American, born in 1971) came to prominence thanks to her elaborate, collage-inspired paintings, mostly presenting African-American women. Painted with acrylic and enamel, and often embellished with rhinestones, the paintings address subjects of femineity, race, and power. Thomas feels at home in art history, and easily combines the genres of portraits, still life or landscape, fusing it with popular culture and placing black female subjects in the main role. The settings of her photographs and paintings are often inspired by the domestic interiors and style patterns of the 1970s, the time of Thomas’ childhood.

In her very own visual language, Thomas asks questions about female sexuality, ideals of beauty, and social acceptance. The artist constructs her images of women through a Cubist lens, fracturing and reducing particular compositional elements, and adding new ones. Obscuring the mediums, she uses photography, silk screening, and painting, blending the art historical references that each of the techniques carry, and incorporating the idea of the printed, ready-made image, as much as the unique handmade portrait.  

Portrait of Din #3 (2015) presents Din, a former medical student who regularly posed for Thomas, and has been one of her longtime muses. The face of the model has been fragmented, partially deconstructed and reconstructed, whereby her right eye and her lips look enlarged. The strong visible brushstrokes create contrast with the smooth surfaces of the silkscreened parts. Din’s clothes blur with the interior, and the rhinestones emphasize the shape of her face, eyes, lips, and hair. This decomposition does not harm the beauty of the female figure that exudes sensual attraction, confidence, and self-awareness. Outside of her core practice, Thomas is a well regarded curator, educator, collaborator of luxury brands, and mentor to many emerging artists.