Amy Sherald (AS) and Elise Pepple (EP)

AS: I got my transplant ten years almost to the date of my diagnosis. Because I felt I only had ten years to live, I stopped caring what the future was gonna hold because I’m like, ’I’m not gonna be here anyway so who cares? Like, I’m gonna do this. I’m not gonna play it safe.’ And that worked in my favor.

EP: And did you always want to be an artist?

AS: Ever since the second grade, I think. I was either gonna be an artist or a chef.

And um, it is a hustle. When young artists come to be and talk what it’s like, I say it’s not for the faint-hearted, because you have to be uncomfortable and not let what people think – like, what I call “civilians,” people who are not artists — think about how you’re living your life. Like the fact that I was 36, and I was waiting tables, and knowing that people were questioning what I was doing with my life, and not really understanding the process that it takes to, you know, break your career out. That gets to you at times. And like just being broke — it’s feast or famine – that gets to you at times. So like, the dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately, that’s what I always say. But if you don’t quit, then eventually it’ll be your time.