KinFolk by Danielle Scott

 

The first art piece that spoke to me was MaDear Seamstress 2022. The gold was the first thing to catch my eye, but then I noticed the mother's crown and the red and gold fabric on the wall. The child dressed in gold was the first thing that attracted me to the painting. When visiting the exhibition on Thursday, February 9th, I asked Daniella about the paintings. She chose the fabric for the seamstress to bring the story to life. Often times slaves were the seamstress, and I'm assuming the children were the helpers. The crown is to remind us that Africans were royalty. They belonged to tribes. In class, I noticed that a few children were missing in the picture. When I asked her why she removed them, she emphasized the storytelling of her work. Often times slave children were separated from their mothers. In addition, Danielle mentions she talks to her artwork and decides what to do based on what she feels they want. For example, she shared a story of one of her artworks surprisingly catching on fire before being transported to campus. That specific artwork she's been having issues with prior. 

The next art piece was Charlotte Noble 2022. What attracted me to this painting was the fact that the man looked like one of my friends. This specific friend is very Pan-African and is all about wearing things representing black and African culture. He especially wears bucket hats and sun hats with a string to tie at the chin, like in the painting here. Another aspect that drew me to the image was the real-life cotton from the resin. It gives an authentic but eerie feel to the picture as it represents the man as a slave picking cotton in the field. 

Lastly, another art piece that spoke to me was Queen of Angles 2020. It was apparent that this was a woman in today's time based on her clothes. Danielle revealed that she was her mentor, and this specific piece was to pay homage to her. As someone with a mentor currently, I can sympathize with how she feels. On her mentor is a shirt with faces on it, and it looks like she's going to work. It seems like she's caring her ancestors and the people that inspire her to where she's going. The sprout on top of the ironing board signifies that her mentor poured everything she knew into Danielle, which was a beautiful symbol. 

In conclusion, Daneille's inspection was to share a story through her work. She wanted the art to make people reflect and feel something with her art. In "The Art of Activism", it states, "Art is highly effective at translating events, facts, and ideologies into stories, images, and performances, making objective things into subjective forms we can experience feelings, and importantly, remember" (25). She, in fact, does make people remember the times of slavery through the clear pictures of the people and the names of those who've been freed from enslavement.