We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Eze. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.
Danielle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
As an abstract painter, each of my pieces is highly expressive and personal to me, but some do stand out more than others, particularly those that helped me through emotionally turbulent moments in my life. I recall one of the first times when painting soothed my anxiety ahead of a serious surgery. I just started painting the day before my surgery and it ended up being the best thing for me. I went in calmer and more clear headed for it.
More recently, I survived an extremely challenging, high-risk pregnancy and I was too sick to paint up until the very end. At 9 months, I was finally able to get on my hands and knees over a large canvas on the floor to create a flowing, refreshing piece full of brilliant greens and whites growing out from a central point using only my bare hands. It was a visceral, meditative experience with repetitive swirling and dancing fingers dragging across the canvas.
Danielle, 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?
I am an abstract expressionist painter who loves to use bold, vibrant colors and unexpected textures to create art that draws in the viewer. My abstract mixed media paintings frequently explore the emotional essence of organic forms I have witnessed, from turbulent ocean storms to sunsets over otherworldly deserts to resurfacing from the depths of free diving. As a lover of traveling and the outdoors, my work is often inspired by my adventures.
No materials or subjects are off limits and I begin each piece with only an emotional state and perhaps a memory. I rarely use paintbrushes, frequently use my fingers and love to mix additives such as oils, wax, baking soda, salt, or coffee to coax out new compositions and reactions. I embrace some natural elements such as heat, rain or sun in my creative processes and I prefer to work outside as much as possible.
I feel I have experienced many lives to get here and am beyond grateful to be able to fully embrace my lifelong ambition and pour my soul into my artwork.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Coming from a background with a heavy emphasis on pragmatic, business-minded ideals, it has been a challenge for me to unlearn the concept that success is directly tied to monetary value. As an engineer I was taught to optimize and solve for the singular best solution. As an MBA and strategy consultant I worked to maximize measurable value (often financial) for my clients. The idea of profitability being the definition of success has been tough to unlearn as I dive into a creative career with far less predictability and far more wide ranging, highly fulfilling outcomes besides directly measurable financial ones.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Art has served as a coping mechanism and a healing experience for me and I enjoy sharing my healthy expressive outlet with others. I have always been drawn to making deep connections with other people and when I am able to do that through my artwork, it is tremendously satisfying. To feel seen and understood is such an innate, powerful human need – my mission is to connect with others on that level through my work.
Contact Info:
- Website: HTTPS://www.DanielleEzeArt.com
- Instagram: Https://www.instagram.com/danielleezeart
