Portrait of Mnonja

Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Mnonja, 2010, rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel, 96 x 120 in. (243.8 x 304.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.16, © 2010, Mickalene Thomas

Artwork Details

Title: Portrait of Mnonja
Artist: Mickalene Thomas
Date: 2010
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
3rd Floor
/
East Wing
Dimensions: 96 x 120 in. (243.8 x 304.8 cm)
Copyright: © 2010, Mickalene Thomas
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums: rhinestone
acrylic
enamel
Mediums Description: rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel
Classifications: Painting
Highlights: African American Art
Subjects: African American
Architecture Interior — domestic — living room
Portrait female — Mnonja
Object Number: 2011.16
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.16

Artwork Description

Mickalene Thomas covered the surface of Portrait of Mnonja with sparkling rhinestones that adorn the reclining figure's clothing, makeup, and high-heeled shoes. The colorful plastic gems are not usually found on paintings or in museums, but they are at the heart of Thomas's art.

Although she first started working with rhinestones because they were inexpensive, Thomas finds them to be the ideal material to represent the Black women who are her subjects. She loves to use an element of women's crafts that is often dismissed as unimportant.

In Mnonja, the straightforward appeal of the stones emphasizes the sitter's powerful presence and sensuality. "Beauty has always been an element of discussion for Black women," Thomas explains, "whether or not we were the ones having the conversation."

Works by this artist (162 items)

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Meet the Artist: Mickalene Thomas on Her Materials and Artistic Influences
Meet The Artist: Mickalene Thomas on "Portrait of Mnonja"
You’ve Got Style

MICKALENE THOMAS: Hi, I'm Mickalene Thomas. I'm here at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

I guess my appeal to craft materials is also another historical reference to women making art. When I was in undergrad, I couldn't always afford oil paint. Because I was in a school and still had to make work, I had to figure out ways in which to still make my art and not limit myself to “I can't make my art, because I don't have oil paint or acrylic paint.” So I gravitated toward non-traditional materials that were considered maybe, for some, a low art, but also to others a high art, if you look at outsider artists, right? I began going to Michaels craft stores, because I could afford felt, and I could afford yarn, and I could afford these little bags of rhinestones or glitter. I could get an abundance of those versus a tube of paint.

I began to acquire these materials and find meanings and ways to use them in my own work as a way of identifying myself but also making an image. That's something that I also push forward with some of my students is not to limit yourself with what you can't do, but just try to think of what you can do and use those materials that are within your own environment to make something.

When I was living in Portland, Oregon I would go to this bookstore called Powell's Books. Within the stacks of their books, I would just go up and down the aisle pulling out books on African-American artists. I remember looking at a William H. Johnson monograph and thinking at that time, "Oh, this is catalogue raisonné" and thinking how his sensibility of his line, representation of his journeys, and the people in his environment, and depicting his world, and depicting African-American lifestyles was a direct representation of who I was. It's really important for me, as an artist, to have a representation of myself so that youth could see themselves in these particular environments like museums. When they see my work, with all the art history, whether it's from William H. Johnson, to someone like David Hockney or Matisse, that when they're standing here that they see themselves.