Tschabalala Self
Tschabalala Self builds figurative paintings from paint, printed imagery, and sewn fabric, using material collage to depict Black life and identity.
Painter
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold was an American painter whose oil paintings and acrylic story quilts combine fabric, painted canvas, and Black American narratives.
Faith Ringgold quick facts
Review Faith Ringgold's oil paintings, acrylic story quilts, fabric construction, visual storytelling, and the physical materials of her best-known work.
| Born | 1930 · Harlem, New York City, U.S. |
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| Died | 2024 · Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Feminist art · African American art |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Acrylic paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Fabric (printed and painted quilt borders) |
| Painting methods | Oil-painted figurative canvases; acrylic paintings on unstretched canvas combined with sewn, quilted, and pieced fabric borders |
| Common subjects | Black American families, urban life, racial injustice, feminist themes, history, and imagined journeys |
| Other materials | Printed cloth, thread, and ink used for text and stitched construction of story quilts |
| Notable works | American People Series #20: Die · Tar Beach · Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima? |
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum: biography, MoMA: American People Series #20: Die, Guggenheim: painted canvases and story quilts, Guggenheim: Tar Beach materials, National Museum of Women in the Arts: acrylic and fabric, and Cooper Hewitt: connection to Tschabalala Self.
Paint types used by Faith Ringgold
Ringgold's political canvases include oil painting, while her story quilts combine acrylic-painted canvas with printed fabric, ink, and stitching.
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Oil paint
MoMA identifies American People Series #20: Die (1967) as oil on two canvas panels, documenting the medium in Ringgold’s early political paintings. The large diptych uses the painted surface to present a crowded scene of racial violence. Collection records distinguish this oil work from later acrylic story quilts.
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Acrylic paint
For Woman on a Bridge #1 of 5: Tar Beach (1988), the Guggenheim records acrylic paint on canvas alongside printed fabric, ink, and thread. The textile and writing materials remain separate from the paint. This mixed-media work documents acrylic within Ringgold’s story-quilt practice, distinct from her earlier oil canvases.
Sources: MoMA: American People Series #20: Die, oil on canvas; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Woman on a Bridge #1 of 5: Tar Beach, acrylic paint, canvas, printed fabric, ink, and thread.; Smithsonian American Art Museum: Faith Ringgold; National Museum of Women in the Arts: Faith Ringgold
Painting surfaces used by Faith Ringgold
Museum records identify canvas and fabric among Faith Ringgold’s supports; the examples below tie each material to specific works in collections.
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Canvas
Ringgold’s paintings use canvas, including MoMA’s American People Series #20: Die and the Guggenheim’s Tar Beach. The support appears in both an early oil painting and a later acrylic story quilt. These works show how she incorporated canvas into distinct formats and periods.
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Fabric
Ringgold paints and stitches fabric into story quilts, with printed and painted quilt borders forming part of the image. The Guggenheim records fabric, ink, and thread alongside acrylic in Tar Beach, while Smithsonian collections document quilted works. Fabric functions as a support and a constructed material within the narrative composition.
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum: biography, MoMA: American People Series #20: Die, Guggenheim: painted canvases and story quilts, Guggenheim: Tar Beach materials, National Museum of Women in the Arts: acrylic and fabric.
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