Mickalene Thomas Sleep Analysis

With its bash and exuberant cluster of small photographs, Mickalene Thomas’s Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires exemplifies the emerging themes of black femininity while embracing the classical genres of landscape artworks. Not only does it represent the synergy and emergence of African-American sexuality, its composition and complexity captures and instills the viewer into the artwork. The collage conveys a strong sense of pride and confidence that is unparalleled to its connection between interior spaces and the emergence of female masculinity in African-American culture. In the artwork, Thomas weaves together black female masculinity and identity through a disparate collage and lush composition that reimagines the past in order to craft a modern-day

Thomas’ characterization of the women romanticizes the nature of their relationship and intimacy. As the two black women lay nude, they openly embrace each other with their eyes closed. One of the women puts her hand onto the other women’s thigh which shows their mutual intimacy. Furthermore, the other women holds flowers in her right hand like she was going to present them to the other women. This represents the close connection and love between the two. The presence of two unique tattoos highlights the masculinity and boldness of the females. Despite the fact that the women are surrounded by broken images and hints of darkness in the gray and stormy images, they lay still in a state of serenity. This is a representation of the fragmented support and resistance towards female muscularity in African-American community. However, by laying in serenity, it shows that female identity will prevail regardless of the resistance and disruption outside world. Furthermore, the artwork spans forty inches in height and eighty inches in length. With the two women in the centerpiece, they direct face the viewer which makes it more prominent and reflects their importance. The sheer size of the piece coupled with the enlarged centerpiece highlight the importance of the two women and immediate allows to the viewer to gravitate towards the centerpiece. Though Thomas

Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires, both in title and subject, directly references Gustave Courbet’s erotic painting Le Sommeil from 1866.While Courbet’s artwork features two resting white women, Thomas celebrates black sexuality. Unlike Courbet, she transforms the silk interior scene into a disparate collage with bright colors and photographs. By doing so, Thomas highlights parts of the past and integrates it into modern day. Also, by using her own body as the subject, she embraces the conceptual idea of the female body while adding in her own distinct flavor of black sexuality. Using her body as a model, it allows the viewer to feel more connected and understand the artwork more fluently. Thomas employs the controversial idea of Courbet’s work but she transforms the painting into her own understanding of modern day female