Michon Sanders

Courtesy of Sarah Deragon - Portraits To The People

Michon Sanders is a contemporary fine artist. Having grown up in the South and spending several years in the Bay Area before moving to Los Angeles, her art practice carries heavy influence from the Black communities she’s been a part of, offering insight into Black selfhood across different regions of the country. In addition to winning first place in the 2020 AXA Art Prize national competition, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting & Drawing from California College of the Arts in 2020 and is currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Art degree at the University of Southern California. She recently had her first solo exhibition in San Francisco, California.

GM: What was your path to becoming an artist?

MS: It definitely wasn’t direct. I grew up drawing and dreaming of art school, but it was never something that I thought I could pursue professionally. My dad was in the Navy and my mom was a teacher, and while they put an emphasis on education and encouraged my talent, they also wanted me to have a “ real job. ” So I put it behind me and just lived a “ regular” life. It wasn’t until I met my good friend and tattoo artist that I thought about using art as a way to make a living, and we started discussing my apprenticing with her. She had gone to the California College of the Arts (CCA) and majored in painting and drawing, so I figured if I followed that path, I could do the same thing and pick up the technical skills I would need as an artist. I briefly went to community college and then transferred to CCA, ultimately majoring in painting and drawing. About three quarters through the program, I realized that I should have majored in illustration if I wanted those technical skills because I found myself kneedeep in a highly conceptual curriculum. It was hands-down the best mistake I’ ve ever made. I was able to dive deep into my subject matter and the reason for making the work, in addition to learning new ways of making. I discovered that being an artist was an integral part of an already complex identity, and I have a responsibility to exercise it.

GM: What has been your experience as part of the For Freedoms x Converse Initative, Hear Her Here?

MS: Hear Her Here is such a powerful movement. For Freedoms is already at the forefront of public engagement through artistic expression, and for them to utilize their platform, along with Converse, to elevate Black female artists speaks to the ways in which they prioritize uplifting the voices that too often go unheard. I was fortunate to be able to participate in a conversation with the young folks who had been doing their salons. It was so powerful to hear these young Black voices and the hopes and aspirations they have, as well as how they manage it all in today ’s climate. Being able to share some my experiences as well was a really invaluable experience.

Michon Sanders, Go Ask Your Daddy, 2022. Oil on canvas

GM: How do you highlight BIPOC in your artistic practice?

MS: Growing up as a Black person in America, specifically in the South, has lent me the opportunity to have a specific set of experiences. In my work I try to think about moments, and what is underneath those moments. I use images of my family to tell our stories as Black people living in this country. Through all the pain and protests, there are all of these pauses, these snapshots of a quick moment in between it all where we are, even if just for a moment, free. There is something special about how we as Black people see each other, and I want to capture that.

Michon Sanders, Self Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Skeptic, 2021. Oil on canvas

GM: In your opinion, what could art institutions do to better engage with Black art and artists, especially in terms of exhibition organizing and programming thematics?

MS: Stop the tokenization. I went to a museum once that had this room that was devoted to the figure. I immediately noticed that every work in the room was by Black artists, all of which were either recent acquisitions or work that been in storage. It felt like walking into the colored section. There was another room on a different floor that did the same thing, but with abstraction. I’d just seen Rothko and Pollack - the usual suspects – and then all of a sudden, there’s a room full of work by Black abstract artists. There was no context provided for this segregation, no explanation. Stop treating Black art and artists like a bandage for all of the much deeper systemic issues that exist in institutions, and have as long as they have existed. We aren’t diversity points.

GM: What are you currently working on?

MS: I am entering into my second year of my MFA program at USC, so I’m in full thesis mode for the written paper and my thesis show. I also have some exciting things happening later this year, so I am in the studio as much as possible making work.