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Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold Quotes

Artist

Faith Ringgold is an American artist renowned for her paintings, collages, and quilts that often explore issues of race, gender, and identity, blending African and African American cultural elements. Born on October 8, 1930, Ringgold's artistic career spans multiple art movements, including Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.

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All Feels Knows Way People Thinking Wanted Able Art Believe Creativity

Famous Faith Ringgold Quotes

“Less is even less, and more is still not quite enough.”

Stills Enough Dissatisfaction

Book:We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold

Source: We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold

“No other creative field is as closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts. After I decided to be an artist, the first thing that I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene, and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity.”

Firsts Believe Art Artist Humanity Black White Creative Sacrifice Fields Scene Racism Decided Males Visuals Sexism Black Women Penetrate Blackness Visual Art

Author:Faith Ringgold

“The great enemy of creativity is fear. When we're fearful, we freeze up - like a nine-year-old who won't draw pictures, for fear everybody will laugh. Creativity has a lot to do with a willingness to take risks. Think about how children play. They run around the playground, they trip, they fall, they get up and run some more. They believe everything will be all right. They feel capable; they let go. Good businesspeople behave in a similar way: they lose $15 million, gain $20 million, lose $30 million and earn it back. If that isn't playing, I don't know what is!”

“I became a feminist because I wanted to help my daughters, other women and myself aspire to something more than a place behind a good man.”

Men Helping Wanted Behinds Daughter Feminist Good Man My Daughter Aspire

Book:Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold's French Collection and Other Story Quilts

Source: Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold's French Collection and Other Story Quilts

“I always knew I wanted to be somebody. I think that's where it begins. People decide, "I want to be somebody. I want to make a contribution. I want to leave my mark here." Then different factors contribute to how you will do that.”

People Thinking Want Different Wanted Success Fame Ambition Mark Factors Contribution

Author:Faith Ringgold

“When they're looking at my work, they're looking at a painting and they're able to accept it better because it is also a quilt.”

Able Accepting Painting Quilts

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I'm not presumptuous enough to feel that people are going to feel what I have in mind, so I tell a story, you know, let them read something, that doesn't change, that as I have said it, you know, so that's the way I feel about the viewer, the viewer has a mind of their own and eyes of their own and they're going to see it their way, I just hope they look.”

People Knows Way Feels Mind Looks Said Enough Stories Eye Viewers Presumptuous

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I will always remember when the stars fell down around me and lifted me up above the George Washington Bridge.”

Remember Stars Bridges Remember When

Author:Faith Ringgold

“Because the mask is your face, the face is a mask, so I'm thinking of the face as a mask because of the way I see faces is coming from an African vision of the mask which is the thing that we carry around with us, it is our presentation, it's our front, it's our face.”

Thinking Way Faces Vision Fronts Mask Your Face Presentation

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I had this idea that I wanted to do this mixture of visions of African American women and visions of African American men. And call it 'The Men' and call it 'The Women' and show different faces of these two people.”

People Men Two Ideas Different Shows Wanted Faces Vision He Man African American Mixtures American Woman African American Women Different Faces

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I had something I was trying to say and sometimes the message is an easy transmission and sometimes it's a difficult one but I love the power of saying it so I'm gonna do it whether it's hard or easy.”

Love Trying Sometimes Hard Age Easy Difficult Messages Power Of Words Transmission Trying Hard

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I guess I had fun doing it but it has hard memories for me.”

Hard Fun Memories Doing Me Had Fun I Had Fun

Author:Faith Ringgold

“Creativity helps us realize that we don't have to understand everything. We can enjoy something -feel it and use it- without ever fully comprehending it.”

Feels Helping Use Enjoy Realizing Creativity Comprehending

Author:Faith Ringgold

“I just feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world being able to do what I love and be able to do it all day every day if I like, you know, I mean it's great, I love it.”

Ifs Knows World Feels Mean Persons Able Like You Great Day I Like You

Author:Faith Ringgold

“Anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can't get to any other way. The next thing you know, you're flying among the stars.”

Knows Way Needs Next Stars Ability Flying

Author:Faith Ringgold

“You can't sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it”

Needs Writing Art Waiting Painting Sitting Who You Are Paint Painter Inaction Inactivity

Author:Faith Ringgold

About the Author

Born: October 8, 1930
Known for: Artist
Quotes: 16

Related Topics

Feels Knows Way People Thinking Wanted Able Art Believe Creativity

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold's French Collection and Other Story QuiltsRelated source material

We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith RinggoldRelated source material

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