Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Feb 21, 2022, 06:28AM

Far Out

A 2019 032c interview with painter Faith Ringgold vs. a 2018 Harper’s Bazaar interview with actress Michelle Yeoh.

Michelle yeoh nov 4 2018.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1

Faith Ringgold: When she had said, “Bring it to me. I would love to publish it,” she thought she was going to read about suffering.

Michelle Yeoh: It comes from love, it comes from her being a mother who is like a dragon mom, where they nurture and they protect their treasure.

Ringgold: Well, there’s levels of intent. And you can choose to get deeper, or you can just stay on the periphery.

Yeoh: You can look at it like a gilded cage.

Ringgold: Oh, yeah. (laughter) Far out.

•••

Yeoh: Because it can read off like that, with all the stag parties and the hen parties, and all that running around.

Ringgold: There was so much to learn and see there, and I incorporated it into my vision of what I was doing.

Yeoh: They'll say, “Oh you're so skinny now, you have to eat more.”

Ringgold: Or they’d say, “Ms. Jones” – my mother – “has just gone to school to pick up the kids.” Because my mother picked us up from school. “Do you want to come and wait in my house?” They would take a complete stranger into their house, sit them down, and give them some coffee.

Yeoh: I think that's probably one of my favorite scenes.

•••

Ringgold: If there is a difference, I couldn’t tell you what it is – it’s always people looking, and asking questions that are pretty much the same, I would say.

Yeoh: You might have all the amazing trimmings but there's a lot of taking in deep breaths and going, “It’s okay. Bigger picture, bigger picture.”

Ringgold: Are you going to wear a mask or something? Can you imagine?

Yeoh: No, no, no, no, no.

Ringgold: The horror of it all.

Discussion

Register or Login to leave a comment