Lubaina Himid is a painter who uses the canvas to experiment not only with the language of traditional art history, but also to engage with the social sphere. Many of her works exist, as Himid has noted, in “the moment between a question and an answer,” and in those interstices, audiences are invited to enter her exhibitions as worlds of their own making. Her “stages” serve as sites of active participation, sites to transmit the operatic feelings that emerge from lived experience. Here, the minutiae of daily life is amplified: it can be heard and seen, and importantly, felt.

An interview and cover story between Himid and Dr. Omar Kholeif in the Brooklyn Rail.