Desirée Zagbai – Local Journalism Initiative
Marie-Danielle Duval draws inspiration from novels such as Sula by Toni Morrison and All About Love by Bell Hooks. She creates paintings and sculptures that evoke the importance of Black women’s identities and the different aspects of romantic relationships. Her recent exhibition, Cultiver l’amour explores these various topics.
Duval has been a visual artist for five years. She knew she wanted to become one when she realized she could express her thoughts uniquely.
“Arts was the only thing that gave me this kind of liberty to talk about everything, without censures, without boundaries,” Duval said to the CONTACT.
Duval explained that, as a Black woman, she feels that Black art is mainly represented through topics such as slavery or exotic artifacts in Museums. She added that there is now more space for Black visual artists in art galleries, but she thinks much work must be done to make art more inclusive.
“I don’t want them to be labelled only as Black women. I want people to see the person, so I’m trying to present them in their intimacy and tell them more about the underlying element that
people don’t see or don’t look at first sight,” Duval said.
Cultiver l’amour’s exhibition was showcased from Oct.19, 2024, to Nov. 30 at Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay. It was inspired by Bell Hooks’ novel, All About Love. The book explores the theme of love and its root of happiness, self-worth, compassion, and social justice. Duval created sculptures using sand from her late grandmother’s house in Senegal.
Duval explained that her grandmother made sure her house was always home, literally and symbolically, by welcoming everyone among friends and family. She organized gatherings regularly where she shared meals. Her grandmother’s passing made her reflect on love through the notion of divulgence and home in a dispersion context.
“When her children left the house, it also became a living space for people with nowhere else to live. Even though her house was small, she could make a space for many people, as long they needed it,” Duval said. “Symbolically, hundreds of people considered her as a mother or a grandmother.”
In the theme of love and through inspiration from Hooks’ novel All About Love, Duval highlights the importance of how abuse and neglect cannot coexist in that context.
She hopes the audience who sees her art understands the sincerity of her work.
“I hope anyone else who sees my work will understand that their story is also worth telling. Wherever they come from, whatever they experience, every experience matters,” Duval said.
People can see Duval’s art on her website: https://www.mdanielleduval.com/.
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