Kinfolk is an exhibition in the Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery at New Jersey City University. It is curated by Doris Cacoilo. The exhibition features artwork created by Danielle Scott that depicts social commentary and the unheard stories of her people.
The artwork Griff is a noose attached to a large wooden cross on top of a tree stump. The noose is made of aluminum through the usage of a casting mold based on the observation that the noose appears to be melded in several areas. The wooden cross was either stained or carefully torched to create the illusion that the wood is burnt. The bottom of the cross is within a rusty circular piece of metal. The circular piece of metal contains many hands of various sizes and ropes. Underneath the metal is an old tree stump that has some bark missing in a small area.
Griff may convey the suffering of African Americans under slavery. The cross is a symbol of Christianity as Jesus Christ was crucified and died for our sins. The noose is a representation of lynching. The combination of the cross and noose is an extreme punishment to strike fear in the heart as it may allude to the body being displayed on the cross after dying to lynch. The various hands are a representation of the multitude of African Americans that have died to that method. The upward positions of the hands are a symbol of trying to escape from their torment.
Scott’s sculpture is attempting to convey the pain and suffering that was inflicted. In The Art of Activism, a quote stated “Art allows us to say things that can’t be said to give form to abstract feelings and ideas and present them in such ways that can be communicated with others.” We will never know the suffering or hardships that resulted from slavery. Scott will never know the struggles that they faced. However, she tries to bring awareness to the awfulness of the treatment of these people. From the material the noose is made from to the design of the cross to the placement of the hands, it is deliberate to encompass the severity of it all.
The artwork King Constance is a mixed medium assemblage made with resin. The background of the piece is a wooden wall with a doorway on the left side that glimpses into a different room with red and gold wallpaper. Four sections of the wooden wall are missing to reveal the plywood underneath. The furthest right section instead had part of a piece of paper that listed the names of African Americans. The floor is either cherry red or blood red in color etched with a wood grain to resemble hardwood flooring. There are three figures shown in the artwork. One of the figures is a young toddler dressed in a golden outfit that is on the left side of the piece and sitting on the floor. The other figures are standing more toward the right of the piece. One of them is a young child with a yellow orb around their head and the other is an adult female with a large crown on her head. Next to the young child and adult female are the outlines of two people in gold and inside of the outlines are pieces of paper that list the names of African Americans.
In the King Constance, the toddler dressed in gold appears more important than the other two figures. His outfit is lavish and he is separated from the others. The other two figures are a young child and an adult female. The young child has a yellow orb around his head that may represent a good soul or holiness. The adult female has a crown that may represent that they are either a queen or the matriarch of the family. However, two figures are missing from the piece which could be other children. These figures could have been sold for the family to be able to afford to continue to spoil the golden-dressed child.
Scott has decided to outline the missing figures and in their place put the pieces of paper that list the names of African Americans. In The Art of Activism, it is stated “As the writer Jorge Luis Borges summarized at the end of his life: ‘The task of art is to transform what is continuously happening to us, to transform all these things into symbols, into music, into something which can last in man's memory’." She has taken what she has discovered during her research and has turned it into a work of art. Scott uses gold to emphasize importance. The child in gold and the missing people outlined in gold are meant to be important. She wants them and their connection to constantly be remembered.
Scott has spent a long time researching, going through photos, and visiting plantations to create her works of art. In The Art of Activism, it is stated “While we each have our own individual story, what we share is a transformative process that began with something deeply personal, emotional, and experiential.” She must have been affected both emotionally and experientially by her findings throughout the research. She saw the consequences of slavery and worked to bring awareness to generations of black families. She incorporated photos and documents found during her research into her artworks to make them more impactful.
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