Naudline Pierre: The least I can do is be transparent with my loved ones, or even strangers.
Hilton Als: Exactly. Everything is very personal, for sure. And if you’re in the majority, you start to feel and think differently.
Pierre: (laughter) How are you?
Als: What does that mean?
Pierre: It leaves spaces open for what was underneath to show through, so it has a nice layering effect.
•••
Als: It is such a delicate balancing act, and no one leaves that space feeling condescended.
Pierre: A lot of it is sitting and staring, sketching, just thinking.
Als: One of the more important things you can do is to do nothing.
Pierre: Like, “Hey, I’m not actually here right now, my body is, but I’m not.”
Als: The best thing to do is to not lie to yourself.
•••
Pierre: Basically, I start somewhere and eventually I end up somewhere else, but there are remnants of that first thought, sometimes more so than other times.
Als: When I was your age, or a little bit older, these were very significant acts of creation for me.
Pierre: I think they weave in and out of each other.
Als: It all went away, and we became friends.
Pierre: Apologies in advance for that.