A Colorful Family ARTchives
Delayna Robbins
DAG Golden Belt Gallery | January 13 to February 8, 2024
Durham Art Guild Artist in Residence Program sponsored by the Truist Foundation and NC Arts Council
Artist Statement
Unfortunately, not every Black household can safely store and protect these treasures. Valuable items, photos, and other memorabilia are often lost, destroyed, or taken away over time, leaving future generations with the task of piecing together our pasts.
A Colorful Family ARTchive is an exhibition that highlights the importance of documentation and celebrates ancestry through a collective experience. In this body of work, artist Delayna Robbins recreates family photos, gatherings, and other recollections through painting and installation. Memories of her family bonding around the television, watching home videos together, precious moments with her grandmother, and other moments are translated with a surrealistic lens. These moments reveal parts of the artist’s healing journey and extend empathy to others who may experience generational trauma.
For Robbins, these works provide a path to recovering her ancestral connection, allowing a more profound understanding of her family’s journey.
Curated by Delayna Robbins and Dara Baldwin
Presented by the Durham Art Guild
About Delayna Robbins
Within Black culture, an unspoken privilege exists where tangible keepsakes have been kept, well maintained, and archived.
Delayna Robbins, also known as A Colorful Chaos, is a visual artist who explores her take on Contemporary Afro Surrealism. A genre which seeks to highlight the complexities and unique experiences and struggles faced by People of Color, while also celebrating their resilience and beauty.
Working primarily with acrylic paints, she draws inspiration from her experiences as a woman of color and her ongoing journey towards understanding the interconnectedness of spirituality and mental health. Through her use of bold colors and surrealistic elements, she invites viewers to consider their own experiences and perspectives, fostering empathy, understanding, and connection.
Visit her website at www.acolorfulchaos.co and her IG@_acolorfulchaos
Images courtesy of the artist and Double Paw Photography.