Danielle Scott: King Constance (2022) mixed medium assemblage and resin

Danielle Scott: Griff (2022) cross and aluminum noose

    The first image that stood out to me in the Danielle Scott: Kinfolk exhibition was King Constance (2022) which is mixed medium assemblage and resin. The background of this artwork is mostly red and tan hallway leading to a red room on the left.The figures in this artwork all are posed as if taking a family photo, while wearing clothes made of black and gold. There is a small baby more to the left of the composition and another slightly older child with an older woman to the right, wearing a gold halo and purple crown respectively. What stood out to me was that upon closer inspection of the work you can see two outlines of two figures that almost look as if the figures were placed there then cut out, which is hard to tell from farther away. Filling the empty space where the figures stand and off to the right of the work are lists of names. When asked about it the artist explained that it was symbolic of the fact that oftentimes these families were separated from one another, leaving behind a missing spot in their families. I think this way of showing how these families were separated is very powerful, because it hints to the viewer that someone is missing, and it could be any person from that list of names that the artist has researched and placed there. However we have no way of knowing exactly who it is that is missing, just as the family has no way of knowing where their loved one has gone.

    The second artwork that caught my attention was Griff (2022) which is a cross and aluminum noose. This is a sculptural piece, which has a log of wood at the base that leads into a rusted tin filled with small hands reaching upwards. From inside this hand filled tin emerges a large wooden cross adorned with an aluminum noose in the center of the cross. The entire piece looks old and weathered. I gravitated towards this piece not only because of its three dimensional form, but also because of how striking the contrast between the cross and the noose were. Not only in color, but also in meaning. I interpreted this message to be the irony of how the slaves were treated in such inhumane ways by people who preached the word of God. And how those people who often prided themselves on being good Christians brought nothing but death and suffering to slaves. This shows the viewers about how much slave owners viewed black people as less than human, so much so that they thought they were justified in the treatment of them. The hands at the bottom of the cross reaching upwards almost seem as if those who were wronged are trying to reach out for justice, but they can’t quite make it. The artist spent so much time researching this history to create her work and it can be seen with how she tells the narrative throughout her work. She not only tells the stories that we know, but also the stories of those who may have been forgotten about or those unnamed slaves that suffered through these times.


3 quotes:

“Photographs furnish evidence.” -Susan Sontag

The artist Danielle Scott uses photographs of slaves heavily within her work. These photographs are evidence that these people truly existed; that they were real human beings who had to endure. It shows the viewer that these slaves were of so many varying ages and backgrounds but that their identity was stripped away. When looking at the photos you can see the pain in their eyes, but you can also see a resilience to survive.


“Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality.”

For most of the artwork, those that feature slave photographs the person is looking back at the viewer. This is powerful because this is something that was usually not allowed. There is a rebellion in their stares, as if they are saying “ I am here. I see you and I know that you see me too”. This forms a strong connection between the viewer and the work that transcends time. Two humans from different time periods are staring back at one another. And with that stare comes the idea of change. That this is something that happened but that does not make it acceptable. That change needs to be made because it has now been acknowledged that something is wrong.


“Halos are heavier than they look.”

The halo motif is very present in Scott’s work. Most of the people in her work have a halo of some sort when a person is present. This halo is heavy with the burdens that these people had to carry through no fault of their own. They were placed on them by their oppressors and by the society that allowed and encouraged this to happen. It is a symbol of not only what they have been through, but also what they have survived.

Abigail Ostorva: Inverse Halo (2023) Digital Media

My selfie is inspired by the motif of halos in Danielle Scott’s work. However I decided to make the halo inverted. I wanted to do it this way because although I have had my share of personal struggles, I don’t think they qualify me to don an actual halo. Instead the background is golden, as I have come to be and grown from my past. I decided to place a black bar over my eyes because it represents the idea of the struggle I often face when it comes to my identity. I am constantly changing and therefore don’t feel as if my gaze properly represents who I want to be yet.