One of America's most sought-after painters... In her studio, Tschabalala Self. Image: Courtesy of Christian DeFonte and Avant Arte

How can a brief period of leisure make a significant point? The New York artist discusses her journey to Britain with her sitting art and reveals her inspiration: the exploitation of "video vixens"

Instead of a vehicle, train, or airplane, picture yourself riding a bike, advises Tschabalala Self. "Consider how the world looks and how fast and effortlessly you can navigate it. How well others can see you and you can see them. She waits. "Depending on the vehicle you're in, your viewpoint changes. With bodies, it's the same for me. We are all fundamentally the same on the inside, yet we move about in various bodies that shape our experiences.

Self, who lives and works in the Tri-State region of New York, is known for his rambunctious analogies. We're talking ahead of two projects she's launching in London this month: the first is a solo exhibition of brand-new drawings, paintings, sculptures, and functional objects at Pilar Corrias Gallery; the second is a large bronze sculpture of a seated figure in Coal Drops Yard, commissioned by Avant Arte, the organization-cum-marketplace that aims to make art more accessible. Self continues her examination of the Black female body with both, saying, "Because it's my own, I feel I can have the most honest conversation about it."

"We imagine we’re free to behave as we wish – but there are still expectations and limitations that exist in public"

Self, the fifth youngest child, was born in 1990. Her parents were New Orleans natives who later relocated to New York City after her father was admitted into Columbia University's MFA writing program in the 1970s. In her free time, her mother sewed curtains, pillows, and other household items because "she refused to buy." Self's parents instilled in their children a strong Black identity while raising them in the culturally varied neighborhood of Harlem, which is rich in art history. In the American south, she claims, they were subject to segregation. "However, they were also the first generation to live through integration there. I received their deep awareness of racial dynamics in America since they had many dual experiences.

Self became aware of how Black women's bodies were portrayed in popular media while she was in her early teens. She refers to women of color who worked as supporting dancers for male singers as "video vixens," describing the time period as the early 2000s, the age of music videos. Self was inspired by the exaggerated, racialized, and objectified portrayal of these so-called hip-hop honeys.

‘I want to make people feel like they have more perspective’ … overseeing production of Seated. Photograph: Courtesy of Avant Arte (c) Oak Taylor-Smith

"There was a lot of mirroring at first," she claims. Then I began to add more of my own objectives and goals to the discussion. She first studied printing before creating the immediately recognizable works of art for which she is most known: brilliant collages of primarily female bodies made of printed, painted, and stitched materials.

Intimate scenes of men and women seated on seats, at tables, and in front of mirrors may be seen in the new work at Pilar Corrias. With the working title Home Body, it looks at how the private and public coexist in a home space where, according to Self, identity and gender politics are still allowed to run amok. "We think of interiority and privacy when we think of the house," she explains, "and they indicate a feeling of freedom. We believe that we are free to act whatever we like. However, there are still constraints and expectations that mimic, if not amplify, those in the public.

One of these anonymous women is included in the artwork Seated at Coal Drops Yard, raising issues about what could seem like no-brainers like a Black woman taking up space or the act of sitting itself. She asserts that "being seated is relatively easy, but it can also be political." a kind of protest akin to sit-ins, representing consent and fundamental human rights A film of Londoners talking about sitting from their preferred locations to do so is shown beside the artwork.

Self is now one of the most in-demand artists in the US, but she objects to the concept of becoming the next promising new artist. You're effectively succumbing to your own commercialization and objectification once you give in to it, she claims. And how does it ultimately help you? Because people often toss things away when they start to think of them as outdated or useless.

Self does, however, want her art to be seen by as many people as possible and for viewers to have "a transcendent moment" in front of her creations. It need not be a realization about the task, she adds. It can be a realization of one's own. I want to give folks the impression that they are more equipped and have a wider view on things. regardless of the body or vehicle they are using to go about.

Both shows are in London: Seated is at Coal Drops Yard until January 31 and Home Body is at Pilar Corrias through December 17.

Thanks to Chloë Ashby at The Guardian whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.