Welfare Queen 2012

Amy Sherald made this striking portrait called *Welfare Queen* and I'm immediately struck by the way she uses colour to make you think. The bold red background is almost like a stage, setting the scene for the figure. Look at the figure's face, how Sherald paints the skin tones in grayscale, which is such a powerful choice. It flattens the image but also brings a level of abstraction, making you focus on the other colours and the composition as a whole. There's something so regal about the way she's painted, yet the title throws a curveball. It's like Sherald is asking us to question our assumptions and the stories we tell about people. The dress is gorgeous, those brushstrokes create a sense of movement and depth. You see some of the same ambiguity in Barkley Hendricks' portraits. They share the same way of playing with ideas of identity and representation, making you think about who gets to be seen and how. It's not about fixed meanings; it's about opening up conversations.