 |
| Celestine, 2022 |
King Constance, 2022
Danielle Scott: Kinfolk, Gallery Reaction
Danielle Scott's Kinfolk is an intervention about race, power, and historical narratives. Her work is based on a year-long research project that delved into the lives of enslaved African Americans, the records that contained their names, and how they are memorialized. She uses materials from historical archives and the Free People of Color Data Base as a backdrop to her work. The database contains the names of formerly enslaved people, documenting their skin tones, occupation, and state of origin. African Americans needed to carry these papers to ensure their safety during slave times. Danielle Scott takes her research and archival photographs and creates mixed media assemblages that idolize African Americans by donning them in colorful fabrics and displaying them as monarchs and saints. "Art is highly effective at translating events, facts, and ideologies into stories, images, and performances" (Ducumbe, Lampert, 2021 pg. 25). The layering of Scott's work is based on the layers of African American history she learned from her journey and how this information is not widespread knowledge. Therefore, it was her goal to create Kinfolk, formally Ancestral Call, for people to view the work, ask questions about the art, and think about the history of slavery in America.
Celestine, 2022 is a mixed media assemblage with three decorated girls framed by weathered wood. Danielle Scott uses a photograph of three girls sitting together, looking at the camera with varied expressions. The designs reference vibrant African prints, adding an extra layer of heritage to their attire. The girl in the center, who I assume is Celestine, looks at the viewer with an intense stare crowned by an emerald, gold, and ruby halo. By decorating the girls, she depicts them as future queens, already wise and resilient at their young age due to their struggles. In Ways of Seeing, John Berger states, "Art is a sign of affluence; it belongs to the good life; it is part of the furnishing which the world gives to the rich and the beautiful. But a work of art also suggests a cultural authority, a form of dignity, even wisdom" (Berger, 1972). By putting the halo on Celestine and displaying the girls in a gallery, Danielle Scott upholds them to the same cultural authority and dignity as Western European affluence. In addition, Scott detailed her conversations with this painting and the challenges she faced dealing with the spirits of three argumentative girls. She states that all of them fought for the halo and argued about the clothes they wore, and in the end, the girl in the middle won her three halos. Celestine, 2022, covers the intersectionality of black girlhood, showing that enslavers put captive girls to work and subjected them to the racism and misogyny of the patriarchy. Still, the piece celebrates them as determined queens. Not only is Danielle Scott creating a narrative based on historical archives, but she is telling a story with the subjects in her work.
The children featured in King Constance, 2022, are dressed in regal fabrics, donning golden embroidery, with the eldest son wearing a crown atop his head. Meanwhile, the toddler of the family is set off to the side, completely gilded in golden fabric, drawing the viewer's eye to their magnificence. The halo is a common symbol in Scott's work, representative of catholic saints. Overall, two children are missing from the composition. The original photograph, viewed in the slideshow, shows five children standing in front of their house. In place of the children, Scott adds the names of other African Americans documented in the Freed People of Color Database. One interpretation shows how people are easily forgotten or erased from history when it is not adequately recorded. As a result, the general public does not know the stories of these individuals, and people's ancestors fade into obscurity. Danielle Scott's work brings awareness not only of identity, power, race, gender, and social justice but it heightens their historical image. In addition to the erasure of black history, Scott states that the missing children represent the loss of family during slave times. Families were torn apart by the slave trade and never seen again. Selling children for profit was widespread, and with the split of family unions, the enslavers could hold power over their captives. A quote from Bell Hooks states, "The point of such violence is usually to reinforce deemed ruler over those without power and give the right to maintain that rule through practices of subjugation, subordination, and submission" (Hooks, pg. 24). By punishing innocent children and families, those in power were able to maintain their absolute control over them, reinforcing that their existence was in a constant threat in captivity. By representing the desolate conditions of slavery, while simultaneously decorating the children as kings, Danielle Scott presents the viewer with a multilayered piece that discusses the lives of slave children, separated family members, and the celebration of their heritage through gold and fabric.
Children are a recurring motif in Scott's work, as children are foundations for future generations. However, the subjects in her work are not known by the general audience; they are photographs from historical archives, pages from the Free People of Color Data Base, and photographs from her research. She effectively brings forth these unknown figures in African American History. Danielle Scott created Kinfolk to confront people with pieces of forgotten history, make people uncomfortable and encourage viewers to carry out their research about African American history. In a time of censorship and socio-political unrest, people seek information about history on their terms. A quote from Susan Sontag states, "The camera record justifies. A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened" (Sontag). Through archival photography and colorful assemblages, there is a more profound history regarding the lives of enslaved people and how they should be revered for their hard work and suffering. By using the names and photographs of those featured in the archive, Danielle Scott stages an intervention that invites viewers to learn about historical narratives and confront injustice in the current day.
My selfie follows conventions similar to Danielle Scott's work, taking "old" photographs and collaging modern ones in the background along with fabrics and paper. Since Kinfolk is based on heritage and culture, I based my design off of my Puerto Rican heritage; taking tropical motifs and adding floral patterns to my shirt gives it a tropical feel, while the background is taken from Boquerón, a beach town that I used to go to when I visited my grandparents in Cabo Rojo. I grew up in Jersey City, and since I stopped visiting Puerto Rico in 2018, I have lost a connection to this culture, even though my entire paternal and maternal family is from there. It all began when Hurricane Maria hit, and the Puerto Rico I grew up with was devastated and changed drastically. I remember visiting my cousins and seeing powerlines tilted sideways, old houses crumbling down, and Boquerón in shambles. Since then, the only time I visited was last year when my grandmother died in 2022 when I dropped my finals and flew over for four days to attend her funeral. Her death completely changed my view of Puerto Rico, and now I feel disconnected from the island entirely. The one connection I have now is my other Grandmother in Jersey City, who has Puerto Rican flags all over the house and cooks her recipes all the time. Therefore, I made this piece based on my struggle with identity, the part of myself that I felt disconnected from for a very long time.
Celestine, 2022 is a mixed media assemblage with three decorated girls framed by weathered wood. Danielle Scott uses a photograph of three girls sitting together, looking at the camera with varied expressions. The designs reference vibrant African prints, adding an extra layer of heritage to their attire. The girl in the center, who I assume is Celestine, looks at the viewer with an intense stare crowned by an emerald, gold, and ruby halo. By decorating the girls, she depicts them as future queens, already wise and resilient at their young age due to their struggles. In Ways of Seeing, John Berger states, "Art is a sign of affluence; it belongs to the good life; it is part of the furnishing which the world gives to the rich and the beautiful. But a work of art also suggests a cultural authority, a form of dignity, even wisdom" (Berger, 1972). By putting the halo on Celestine and displaying the girls in a gallery, Danielle Scott upholds them to the same cultural authority and dignity as Western European affluence. In addition, Scott detailed her conversations with this painting and the challenges she faced dealing with the spirits of three argumentative girls. She states that all of them fought for the halo and argued about the clothes they wore, and in the end, the girl in the middle won her three halos. Celestine, 2022, covers the intersectionality of black girlhood, showing that enslavers put captive girls to work and subjected them to the racism and misogyny of the patriarchy. Still, the piece celebrates them as determined queens. Not only is Danielle Scott creating a narrative based on historical archives, but she is telling a story with the subjects in her work.
The children featured in King Constance, 2022, are dressed in regal fabrics, donning golden embroidery, with the eldest son wearing a crown atop his head. Meanwhile, the toddler of the family is set off to the side, completely gilded in golden fabric, drawing the viewer's eye to their magnificence. The halo is a common symbol in Scott's work, representative of catholic saints. Overall, two children are missing from the composition. The original photograph, viewed in the slideshow, shows five children standing in front of their house. In place of the children, Scott adds the names of other African Americans documented in the Freed People of Color Database. One interpretation shows how people are easily forgotten or erased from history when it is not adequately recorded. As a result, the general public does not know the stories of these individuals, and people's ancestors fade into obscurity. Danielle Scott's work brings awareness not only of identity, power, race, gender, and social justice but it heightens their historical image. In addition to the erasure of black history, Scott states that the missing children represent the loss of family during slave times. Families were torn apart by the slave trade and never seen again. Selling children for profit was widespread, and with the split of family unions, the enslavers could hold power over their captives. A quote from Bell Hooks states, "The point of such violence is usually to reinforce deemed ruler over those without power and give the right to maintain that rule through practices of subjugation, subordination, and submission" (Hooks, pg. 24). By punishing innocent children and families, those in power were able to maintain their absolute control over them, reinforcing that their existence was in a constant threat in captivity. By representing the desolate conditions of slavery, while simultaneously decorating the children as kings, Danielle Scott presents the viewer with a multilayered piece that discusses the lives of slave children, separated family members, and the celebration of their heritage through gold and fabric.
Children are a recurring motif in Scott's work, as children are foundations for future generations. However, the subjects in her work are not known by the general audience; they are photographs from historical archives, pages from the Free People of Color Data Base, and photographs from her research. She effectively brings forth these unknown figures in African American History. Danielle Scott created Kinfolk to confront people with pieces of forgotten history, make people uncomfortable and encourage viewers to carry out their research about African American history. In a time of censorship and socio-political unrest, people seek information about history on their terms. A quote from Susan Sontag states, "The camera record justifies. A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened" (Sontag). Through archival photography and colorful assemblages, there is a more profound history regarding the lives of enslaved people and how they should be revered for their hard work and suffering. By using the names and photographs of those featured in the archive, Danielle Scott stages an intervention that invites viewers to learn about historical narratives and confront injustice in the current day.
.jpg) |
| It's Me |
No comments:
Post a Comment