Shorewood Artist Sculpts Michelle Obama's Arms Out of Glass

Shorewood artist Niki Johnson sparked a national controversy about the Catholic church's stance on contraceptives when she used 17,000 condoms to depict former Pope Benedict.

Johnson, an adjunct professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, now hopes that her glass sculpture of Michelle Obama's arms will provoke a similar discussion – this time about race, gender and power.

By limiting her sculpture only to Obama's arms, Johnson highlights what the media is focusing on, what the media is missing, and the expectations that society has set for a First Lady.

Johnson said Michelle Obama shook the American status quo – not only by being the first black First Lady – but by being an independent and career-driven woman. Johnson said the American public "breathed a sigh of relief" in 2008 when Obama "traded in her legal practice for designer fashions and the fight against childhood obesity."

"The First Lady is expected to take on the role of the woman before her, and when there’s any type of deviance from that role, there’s a backlash," Johnson said. "The media's continued coverage of her figure and the pointed and detailed discussion of her body points to where we are at as a country. What this piece asks for is to reexamine these cultural dialogues."

The piece is titled "A Vision in White," alluding to the limiting "white gaze of the black female body,"Johnson said. The timing of the piece is especially poignant this week, as the racial overtones in the Travon Martin case have caused President Obama himself to come out publicly and comment on the relationship between the black community and American society at-large.

Like Pope Benedict, Michelle Obama is a high-status figure who represents larger concepts in our society. By bringing these figures to life through sculpture, Johnson said she is able to create a more visceral experience to interpreting larger social issues.

“The people I represent are emblematic of larger issues in popular culture,” Johnson said. “Through a material transformation I bring that conversation to the surface.”

The artwork depicting Pope Benedict, titled "Eggs Benedict" was sold in May to Milwaukee philanthropist Joseph Pabst. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the work went to the AIDS Resource Network of Wisconsin. 

Johnson said she plans on using a portion of the proceeds from "A Vision in White" to benefit an organization that benefits women and girls.