Gisela McDaniel’s debut solo exhibition on June 15, “Lush P(r)ose”, explores how female-identifying survivors of sexualized assault and violence create unique paths towards healing and reclaiming their own bodies.
By engaging in dialogue with survivors, McDaniel depicts their various narratives through surreal portraits in emotionally-charged paintings. Each of the subjects in her paintings bravely tell their individual stories, accompanied by audio samples collected which have been distorted and mixed to share their collective experiences.
As a survivor herself, McDaniel dialogues with indigenous, women of color, multiracial and immigrant women as a means to allow them to share their stories, heal from trauma, and explore how their experiences affect them physically and spiritually. As an indigenous Pacific Island woman, McDaniel is also interested in exploring connections between nature, displacement, and violence against women, asserting that these factors are not only deeply entwined but can also serve as a key to healing.
About the Artist
Gisela McDaniel (b. Bellevue, NE 1995) is a diasporic indigenous Chamoru feminist artist based in Detroit, MI. Her art explores how women who survive/resist sexualized violence create unique paths towards healing and reclaiming their own bodies.
