In the 1960s, as a teenager, you were discovered by a Vogue editor so taken with your look that she chased after you in the subway. By the 1970s, you had become one of fashion’s first prominent Black models. Ever since, you’ve been beautifying the world through modeling, painting, drawing, designing clothes, dancing, and singing. Tell me about the role the arts have played in your life.

Well, growing up in Spanish Harlem with a mother who is a painter had everything to do with everything. Wonderful musicians came into my life because she loved jazz and was always at the [Harlem music venue] Red Rooster. That’s how she met my father, who was a Swedish saxophonist. My auntie was a dancer for [African American modern dance pioneer] ­Katherine Dunham. At that time, African dancing was exoti

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