Read the full article by Eric Schucht in The Sacramento Observer
“It’s cold. It’s weird. It’s fun. It’s different.” That’s how Tamica Michelle described the first time her entire naked body was painted. “You don’t know what to expect, and it’s ticklish.”
The Sacramento model has volunteered three times to become a human canvas for Sacramento airbrush artist Rich Diltz. Their most recent session a few months ago was personal for Michelle. Splotches of Pan-African colors blanketed her skin. A raised clenched fist —the Black Power salute — was handpainted in the shape of Africa on her back.
For Michelle, the Juneteenth-inspired design and photo shoot represented Black pride in the face of discrimination. “I was literally raised on the streets of Detroit. So for me, I knew what struggle meant,” Michelle says. “And that’s why it was so important for me to do this … it was just about having that dark past and finding the light.”