Journey Unveiled

Dana Powell-Smith’s new show, Journey Unveiled, takes the audience on a voyage through the African American experience using shape, color, and texture. Smith’s work speaks to the resilience of black & brown communities across the nation and the world.

Her deceptively simple mixed-media pieces allude to familiar issues in the black diaspora, ranging from faith to fashion. In Material Girl, bits of branded fabric form a luxurious monochromatic silhouette. Metallic bodies reign over the composition of Kingdom and Queendom. Even In My Weakness explores themes of faith in stark black-and-white minimalism. Colors explode behind elongated triangular figures in, The Elders. In other works, shapes gyrate across the canvas to celebrate freedom. Symbols morph into hair. It is easy to see one’s self in the simplicity of Smith’s forms. 

Other more complex collage works dive deeper into the history of black Indianapolis. Photos and handwriting mix into the brightly colored facades lining the streets. Working-class men sit, playing cards in front of segregated signage. The realistic elements serve as an interruption to stark and orderly compositions, injecting them with texture from the real world. 

Through shape, color, and texture Smith takes us on a journey through the familiar and invites the viewer to be a part of each scene. Taken together, the abstracted forms and rich feel of Dana Powell-Smith’s work serve as a reminder to see ourselves in each other and the world around us.

The show can be viewed anytime during the month of February in the Hank & Dolly's Gallery during Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The works can also be viewed and purchased on our online gallery through March.