G
racie Abrams would like very much to ensure that, no matter what she reveals, I will not get angry. “Just don’t be mad at me,” she pleads, bending over in her chair, imploring. “Shit. I’m scared, girl. I hope you’re not so horrified.”
It’s a sunny spring morning in Brooklyn, though in this cavernous art studio, the lights are dim and candles are lit, creating a mood that’s as contemplative as an Abrams ballad amid the sawhorses and drop cloths. It had been Abrams’ idea to conduct our first interview while painting portraits of each other, an attempt, she explains, to approximate the art-infused gatherings she’s been hosting recently in London, in the house she shares with her partner, Irish actor Paul Mescal. “Whenever we have people over, there’s always pens and paper and pastels out, and the party-favor segment is everyone goes home with portraits of the night,” she says, settling her Bambi limbs behind an easel and getting to work. “I try not to take my hand off the canvas while I do a sketch of your face, so it’s going to be super abstract. I have the plan of attack that I use with my friends at home, which is that the more abstract I go, the less offended everyone is. As a nonvisual artist, I’m going to just try not to hurt anybody’s feelings.”
