Essay

Ruth Afontaine Family, 2022. Mixed medium assemblage and Resin 

The first piece that stuck out to me upon visiting Danielle Scott’s exhibition “Kinfolk” was the piece, “Ruth Afontaine Family, 2022.” It is made of a mixed medium assemblage and resin. The brown wooden frame has a rustic look in comparison to the gold foiling and the intricate designs we see the family in the artwork wearing. It is not directly explained to us who the people in the image are, but we do know that they are a family. When I first saw the artwork, I was immediately drawn to the expressions on each of their faces. As these photos were taken during a time of slavery, it only adds more depth to these photos, their expressions hold more meaning than ever before. This also reminds me of a quote by Susan Sontag, taken from an excerpt from “On Photography”, she notes, “Photographs furnish

evidence. Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we're shown a photograph of it.” This quote relates to the art as it shows evidence of America’s dark past that many in modern day, would rather ignore. It’s like when some people try to say the holocaust never happened, or they don’t believe wars that are happening in current times. Photographs like the ones Danielle Scott presents to us in her works help prove that these parts of history did happen. They help us get to know stories and people we might’ve never known about or believed were real people. Then there is the contrast from these black and white photos to all of the colors we see surrounding them. I feel like the choice of colors and designs gives this family the voice and expression they didn’t get to have during this time. They are getting to wear things they didn’t get the chance to and it’s very impactful. This piece makes you wonder what their day was like, what they did inside of the house they’re standing in front of and the stories they shared with one another. 

 

Hatwell, Gray, Bernaby and Eugene, 2020. Mixed medium assemblage and resin 

As I made my way around the exhibit, this particular piece also caught my attention. There are four young boys sitting side by side, their bare feet on top of a long branch. All four boys share similar facial expressions as well. They appear to be bored, burdened, serious and exhausted. In the reading Understanding Patriarchy, it says “Patriarchy is the single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation”. The reading also goes on to explain that boys are silenced and forced to feel pain and deny their feelings. Which is what I can only imagine what these young boys had to do every single day. They had to suppress their pain and keep on going every day even though they must’ve been exhausted and just wanted to be kids. This image paired with the playfulness of the choice of clothing that adorns each one of them is also really powerful.

Danielle Scott does a marvelous job of adding a feeling of what should’ve been to many of the pieces shown in her exhibition. These young boys should’ve had a better childhood, opportunities and happiness (as shown through the vibrant colors) but they were subjected to endless labor and didn’t even get to wear shoes. But, with this piece, I felt more hopeful as they are young children and children are thought to be the face of the future. This piece left a lot of room for my imagination to wander as I thought of what their lives were like as adults, if they ever had the chance to start a family of their own and if they ever found the happiness they deserved. 

In the book, The Art of Activism, it notes, “Art is highly effective at translating events, facts, and ideologies into stories, images, and performances, making objective things into subjective forms we can experience feel, and importantly, remember” p.24. Art is a universal language as it helps us feel things, moves us and makes us think. I believe that Danielle Scott does all these things in her artworks as she honors her culture by showing u
s the truth and why the truth matters. Not only this but she took on the laborious task of going through many, possibly hundreds of archival photographs and presented them in a way that they would’ve possibly never been viewed before. She also created an experience where the viewers of her work were able to interact with it and feel what her ancestors went through as she had real cotton on display for anyone to hold.  For all these reasons, I believe, without a doubt, that Danielle Scotts work are activism.

In my digital selfie, I used a skirt as a backdrop and a yellow knitted scarf. In both art works I chose to write about, the ground is this orangey-maroon color and the second I saw them in person, I immediately thought of this skirt I owned.