Madeline Herrera
Doris Colin
Studio Research
16, February, 2023
Danielle Scott: kinfolk
When looking at the artwork of Danielle Scott from last week , I felt like I stepped into someone’s mind as well as a whole generation of life and culture. When she spoke about her work speaking to her I was a bit confused as to what she meant when she explained what she meant. Looking around the gallery I made the observation that there was a theme of using Paper, and Wood.The wood for the framing of her work to make it feel more organic, as well as the paper that is used as a part of her pieces. Adding on to the themes are the usage of detailed cutouts as well as using objects like fabrics, jewelry, and cotton to give her work more life. When I entered there were two pieces in particular that caught my attention. One was to the right of the gallery, and another to the left. I was drawn to these pieces the most to the point where I just kept staring at them so I could look at the details further, and I wasn't paying much attention to anything else.The work on the right, was called “Hatwell,Gray, Bernaby and Eugene” which was done in the year 2020. What attracted me most was the use of patterns and colors. There are four little boys looking out to the cameraman/viewer. The photo is in black and white with newspapers behind them with names of men, women, and children with their name, age, and other basic information. The children have cutouts on top of their clothing which I presume are just plain clothing. The cutouts are adorned with different patterns that are particular fabrics and fashion worn mostly known in African culture. These patterns contain bright colors and they stick out against the cutout of the boys due to the photo of them being in black and white. How I perceived this was that this gives the boys a sense of who they are and what their culture is. The cutouts are cut in a way that the children are actually wearing these fabrics. When looking closely at the photo these boys look grim, and look very reserved with one of them having their hands over their mouths. They’re huddled together while looking straight at the camera, it's a possibility that they may not like the photographer who's taking the picture of them. Other aspects of this piece that intrigues me is this red-orange fabric that is on the bottom of the piece. My first thought when seeing that was “This must represent fire since these colors are associated with fire”. However this was particularly placed underneath the newspapers of the list of names and some parts of the fabric even covered the paper. Almost as if it was purposely covering these names, like how society is trying to erase black history as if it doesn't exist. Burning it so that no one finds any evidence of the horrors of history. Just like the cut out the patterns there are only small bits but you can still see the clothing that the boys are wearing. “Queen of Angels' (also done in 2020) was on the left side of the exhibit , and it stands out due to the fact that the main base that was used was a Iron board. At the top of the iron board was a golden water faucet . My first thought was water obviously but also the incident of Flint, Michigan for some reason. This piece has a more textured look than the other piece that was mentioned before. A cut out woman in black and white is in the middle of the board. She’s surrounded by a golden crown of flowers, and the shape is circular. It reminds me of how in Christianity , People who are deemed holy have a yellow circle around their head. It gives the woman a certain glow around her. The theme of paper is also used in this piece as well, with the woman walking on top of them , however they’re words of encouragement. I believe this as well as the cutouts of the different people on the woman’s shirt symbolizes a symbol of hope. This piece also has some beautiful color combinations of blue, purple, and pink, which makes the woman standout more due to the fact that the piece has so much color around her even though she is in black and white.
“Queen of Angels' 2020
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