Reflections with Cheryl Derricotte: A Two-Way Mirror Q&A
Cheryl Derricotte. Glass Boys: All Races Together I, 2022. Kilnformed glass, powder printing; 12 x 18 x 1 in. Courtesy of the artist and Habatat Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan.
Structured as an exploration of W.E.B. DuBois’ theory of double consciousness, A Two-Way Mirror is an exhibition featuring contemporary Black artists who have used glass to create work which deconstructs social, cultural, gender, and racial identity concerns. In this Reflections Q&A series, exhibition curator Jabari Owens-Bailey sits down with exhibiting artists to learn more about the stories behind their work.
Cheryl Derricotte is a visual artist whose favorite mediums are glass and paper. Originally from Washington, DC, she lives and makes art in San Francisco, CA. Her art has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The San Francisco Chronicle, MerciSF, and the San Francisco Business Times. In 2021, she was awarded the commission to develop a monument to Harriet Tubman at the transit-oriented development Gateway at Millbrae Station, the first sculptural tribute to the abolitionist in glass. The monument, entitled Freedom’s Threshold, was unveiled on March 16, 2023.
Jabari Owens-Bailey: I would like to start off by just asking you about your background. Where are you from?
Cheryl Derricotte: I am originally from Washington, DC, and I have been in the Bay Area of California since 2011. I have lived in the city of San Francisco since 2016, and my art studio is also in the city, in the Bayview, one of two historically Black neighborhoods.
JOB: When and why did you start creating artwork?
CD: As a teenager and young adult, I was a singer and did a lot of musical theatre. I quickly learned in NYC that I could audition for roles or go to class, but probably not both. So, I put Broadway dreams aside, finished school and settled into a “day job” line of work that I enjoyed. (I became a project manager; I love building creative places to live well, make art, and get work done). About 10 years into my career, I had a particularly difficult manager and started taking classes at the Corcoran College of Art and Design “for fun.” I ended up getting a certificate in Ceramics and Sculpture. Once an artist, always an artist.
By the time I finished my certificate at the Corcoran, the Washington Glass School had opened, and I arrogantly thought, “If I can make a clay bowl, of course I can make a glass bowl!” What a rude awakening when everyone in my workshop had finished two bowls and I barely finished one! The second glass workshop I took was a sculptural class, and I found my artistic voice. My piece was written up twice in the Washington Post and the co-founder of the school, Tim Tate, said, “I think you have a future.” He encouraged me to immediately go to Penland School of Craft [North Carolina] and study with Therman Statom, the pioneering Black glass artist from Washington, DC. That was in 2003. I went back to Penland the next year in 2004 to study Venetian-style glassblowing with Claire Kelly. This craft education foundation in DC and NC rooted me in glass and solidified my love for the medium.
JOB: Can you speak about the importance of glass to your work?
CD: Although I enjoyed learning glassblowing, my own practice settled into warm glass. I have a large “coffin” kiln in my studio and can fire multiple smaller pieces or large panels. I have always believed that glass is uniquely well-suited to portraiture and landscapes. I am known for bringing the portraits of formerly enslaved people to life in glass, beginning with my first solo show at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco in 2016 to earlier this year when I unveiled my first public artwork Freedom’s Threshold, the first monument to Harriet Tubman featuring glass as the primary material. Over the past couple of years, I have been playing more with light and color, which people can see in the two works from my Glass Boys series on display in A Two-Way Mirror at Museum of Glass.
JOB: When did you start making the Glass Boys series?
CD: I was invited by Aaron Schey – AKA “Mr. Glass” and owner of Habatat Galleries Detroit – to develop work for the 2022 series Not Grandma’s Glass. His invitation was to create work that advanced the story of glass and that I would want in the finest museum.
In the days following the start of the pandemic in 2020, and the visible racism in the United States evidenced by police-involved murders, a lot of arts institutions were grappling with lack of a role by Black artists and arts leaders in their programming and administrations. I had seen a couple of the historical photos of Black boys who worked in the factories in Alexandria, VA—right across the river from my hometown of Washington, DC—and said to myself, “The Black glass artists have been hiding in plain sight for the past 100 years.”
I took the generous invitation from Aaron as an opportunity to elevate this history and advance our conversations in the broader glass community about the role of Black glass artists through the ages. My solo presentation online, Glass Boys: Portraits from America’s Factories, occurred in June 2022 for the Not Grandma’s Glass series and I can’t tell you how delighted I am that Aaron’s challenge came true. One year later: the work IS being shown in one of the finest museums—Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington!
JOB: Is it important for you as a Black artist to engage with your history and culture?
CD: It is absolutely vital. My work sits solidly in the tradition of contemporary political art utilizing text and image. There is an old saying: “Don’t know your past, don’t know your future.” Black history is American history, and I enjoy placing historical imagery into our contemporary conversations. I believe that art is the vehicle to allow us to have difficult conversations about our past and present as a society. The museum and the gallery can be the brave spaces we need to come sit a spell for real talk. A Two-Way Mirror is the vehicle and Museum of Glass is a perfect host.
Cheryl Derricotte, 10/14/23
www.CherylDerricotteStudio.com