We recently connected with Dariyah Scott and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dariyah , thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Most of my life before college was focused in working in medicine. After getting into art school and finding out that I can impact people just as much through art I was convinced that this was my path all along. I fell in love with it even more in undergrad, where it wasn’t just an outlet for creative expression, but a way to tell other marginalized people’s experience in conjunction with my own. I couldn’t stop making art once I started and I saw through trying out other paths that it all led back to art. I found that other paths for me felt too constricting, I want to say and do exactly what I want. I find art ultimately to be the only path forward to shaping a new narrative that has my voice in it.

Dariyah , 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’m an artist and musician. I work with experimental sound, sometimes making them into tracks or ideas into interactive installations. I use programs like Max MSP, Ableton, and simple programming to choreograph this. I often collaborate with others to make experiences that move far beyond what we could do on our own. I’m currently working on a body of work involving other dancers and musicians to play on narrative black themes to put a spin on popular culture. I’m also a visual artist with a focus in expressive large-scale paintings. My art focuses on the black experiences and critiquing the interplay of race and gender. I like to look at things from a historiographical perspective, where we can not only observe what happened, but also how that was portrayed and framed into the current zeitgeist of African American culture.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to change someone’s perspective on life and the human experience through one piece of art at a time. At the most dire of times it is important to hold onto hope in the small ways that we know how to. Mine is through art that but exposes different aspects of society completely. that exposes and critiques the conditions of the suffocating society that has been created. Sometimes its inspired by media that proposes itself to be a form of escapism from real life, but exposes different aspects of society completely. I am approaching a place in my art where I am truly finding my voice as an art activist.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Show up for things that they’re doing! Engage critically with their work, spend a little more time when you go into galleries to read the notes or listen to things that are outside the norm. It is important to even discuss difficult provocative works or artists that have a complicated history. Dismissing that art leaves a gap in finding solutions to how to deal with problematic art and make academic spaces feel more safe and inclusive. Don’t censor us; instead look beyond the surface to what the reflection of society they’re portraying that you might not like seeing.

Contact Info:

• Website: dariyahscott.com and dariyahscott.xyz- (not up yet will be soon)
• Instagram: daiaart_