We recently connected with Daena Title and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daena thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The Representation Project is working to confront rape myths, support survivors, and challenge rape culture in media. They posted my latest series, “Indoctrination in the Dark” to highlight how pervasive and harmful Rape culture is in our lives. Their web site: https://therepproject.org/endrape/ My work there: https://therepproject.org/endrape/rape-culture-in-film/
“Indoctrination in the Dark” is a series of twelve paintings each of which focuses on a movie plot that I, and many of the men who run our government, grew up on; plot lines that present the subjugation of women as entertainment. These stories present distorted male/female power dynamics, sexual assault, and even rape as either comedy or the path to true love and happiness. Their plot lines groom men to do whatever it takes to achieve their agendas, teaching them that ignoring or dismissing what a woman says is the action of a hero.
With these paintings, I highlight the power of storytelling and the danger of giving that power to others. It is my hope this work will inspire women to reclaim that power and write their own stories, men to write different stories, and all of us to notice the false messaging we receive. With them, we can begin to undo this “Indoctrination in the Dark”.
To see the paintings and the movie scenes I reference click here: https://daenatitle.com/artwork/4954094-Indoctrination%20in%20the%20Dark.html

Daena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Have you been thinking about Barbie lately? I have a series of Underwater Barbie paintings that is both fun and resonant. She is one controversial icon. I also interviewed several Celebrities about their relationship to Barbie. You can see the video here: https://daenatitle.com/artwork/4954307-Drown%20the%20Dolls%20Artist%20Commentary.html As a Feminist painter, I’ve been tackling how women’s self worth is affected by societal standards for decades, and Barbie is both part of the problem and the solution. I love that dichotomy. In our shared culture, many phenomena can be simultaneously revered and destructive-– like Beauty Pageants, which inspired me to paint a series of exultant winners. These traditions, though often good for an individual, such as a Pageant participant who might win a scholarship or gain self confidence, can simultaneously reinforce harmful messaging in the society at large. https://daenatitle.com/section/315337-Pageants.html

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve been doing Feminist art for decades. With my art, I’ve tried to convey my frustrations with the power imbalances I have perceived in our society, to challenge the assumptions we don’t even know we hold about what is is to be a woman, or a man. But lately, I feel like society is going backwards. Recent Supreme Court events, such as appointing a second man accused of sexual assault, by a credible witness, to the Court, and the subsequent Dobbs decision that has taken away women’s basic rights to control their bodies, made forced pregnancies the rule of the land, and simultaneously imperiled womens’ lives  throughout the U.S., have made me lose heart that my particular skill set— making art— can make a difference. But with the Internet, you never know who you are influencing, empowering or validating, so I put the work out there and hope that others will be inspired to continue the good fight or just open their hearts to consider a different point of view.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

What a strange time we’re in. My skill set, making art, used to be held by a subset of our society. No longer. Now anyone can make art on their computer or their phone. AI is making art. Images are everywhere, instantaneously created and then, just as often, they disappear. “Important” art is determined not by its inherent worth or ability to transport us, but by a group of auctioneers and powerful gallery owners and rich collectors who inflate prices for their own enrichment off their investment. Artists are pressured to spend as much time keeping up their social media presence as they do in their studios. And the numbers of female artists in museums or with high end prices still trail miserably behind the prices that male artists enjoy. It is hard to hold onto the flame, to work even when one’s work feels irrelevant in the face of the huge forces at play in this new world. But, I love making art. So that is what I’ll continue to do.
I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://therepproject.org/endrape/ and https://therepproject.org/endrape/rape-culture-in-film/
• Instagram: daena_title
• Facebook: Daena Title Artist
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/2NuVy66Q_HE