Julia Bottoms
Painting in oil on canvas using traditional methods, Julia Bottoms worked from a highly refined reference image and aimed to capture a classical feeling in the finished portrait.
Painting in oil on canvas, Julia Bottoms used references from human models to establish color, texture, and lighting for the final image.
Based in Buffalo, New York, Julia Bottoms creates portraits that celebrate individuality and challenge the stereotypes often found in popular media. Her work has appeared in EBONY, the New York Times, AfroPunk, Hyperallergic, and HBO’s Insecure, and is held in the permanent collections of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Flint Institute of Art, and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.
For this stamp pane, Bottoms created portraits of Abigail Adams and Lemuel Haynes, an experience she describes as deeply meaningful. “I found myself inspired by the monumental legacies of each figure,” she says. Reflecting on the project, she adds, “I can’t help but believe they would smile knowing that I—both Black and a woman—was the person to honor their stories. This is such a special moment for me both as an artist and as an American.”