From paper plates to Oprah's stage: The healing power of Rose Hill's art

What began as playful doodles on paper plates has evolved into a powerful and healing art movement for Rose Hill.

"I started with magic markers and paper plates," Hill says. "I would take the plates everywhere, drawing faces. People would ask for them, and that became a thing."

Soon, Hill had bigger ambitions.

"I said, I'm going to get me a kiln and make some real plates."

That decision changed her trajectory.

Gayle King, Oprah's close friend, commissioned Hill to create a custom dinner set.

"I painted the girls [heads] from behind," Hill says. "Oprah had them on her show and in her magazine. Those became the girls Im known for."

Hills art, which often features 1950s-inspired hairstyles and blackface imagery, has sparked conversations about Black identity.

"We all have baggage related to this imagery," Hill says. "This is what I choose to do for healing. It helps me heal. Its empowering."

Her work is also a tribute to her mother, a domestic worker, and the Black memorabilia Hill collected before becoming an artist. One of her most personal pieces, The Work Ladies, honors the women who, like her mother, took buses to clean houses in the suburbs.

"I hope my art becomes more of a healing instrument than anything else," Hill says. "Thats what it does for me."