Horcelie Sinda in Conversation with Digital Artist Darryl Daley
The latest winner of the Young Artist Commission Award, Darryl Daley is a South London graphic designer and artist of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Daley began his career as a graphic designer, gaining a degree in the subject, but quickly became interested in the possibilities of art. Keeping to his digital roots, however, it was video art, sound and film that most captured his attention. For Daley, the aesthetics of moving images enabled him to encapsulate diasporic themes of identity, home and memory.
Looking at his Jamaican heritage from a second-generation perspective, which has been passed down from his grandparents, Daley creates Afro-Surrealist works that speak to his family history. Alongside his experiences as a Black creative in the mostly white British artistic community, his works grab the imagination in new and exciting ways. Such a reality never stopped Daley from entering these spaces. After all, these experiences helped refine his craft, and he sought ways to push boundaries. He has never asked anybody for anything because he has always found his way.
In this exclusive with MADE IN BED, Daley shares his story of how he became the artist he is today.
Darryl Daley, Black Transmission, 2021. Photo Courtesy: Darryl Daley.
Horcelie Sinda: How was it to work with NOW gallery for your first solo show ‘WHAT YOU SEE HERE/WHAT YOU HEAR HERE’? (23 March to 11 June 2023)?
Darryl Daley: It was a learning experience - understanding the things that constitute an exhibition. You have the work, the display, the budget and the deadline. It was my first exhibition, and it took me a month and a half to produce all the work exhibited.
HS: How were you discovered for the opportunities as an artist?
DD: I did not study art. I have been a Graphic designer for ten years. It was during lockdown that Black Soap (2020) got some screening online, but then I realised this was not how I had envisioned the work to be shown. I wanted it to be experienced in the art space. The next project was more intentional. I started sending press releases to institutions, and then I started receiving emails.
Darryl Daley, Black Transmission, 2021. Photo Courtesy: Darryl Daley.
HS: How did you begin to work with video art?
DD: An exhibition that exposed me to video art was Infinite Mix held at 180 Strand. Before that, art has always been painting, sculpture and photography to me. I did not realise that people were making films that were viewed as art. So, I started making videos, overlaying them with sounds, and contrasting them with imagery. I was producing things but only understood what it was I was doing once I saw the exhibition. After that, I became more intentional about my practice.
I also collaborate with dancers and movement artists and have done so on two occasions. Within graphic design, it is minimal, with only imagery, topography and colour. What I discovered with the film is that the palette is extensive, as there is sound, movement, and film that I can shoot myself. I can manipulate all these elements. I can visually communicate these elements in video art. What I like about the film is the interactions. It means that you can make something today, and a year later, you can create the same body of work for something else.
Darryl Daley, UNU (You&You), 2021. Photo Courtesy: Darryl Daley.
HS: How do you feel about the art world?
DD: It feels like another industry that I am not trying too hard to be let in. I feel that if I can make good work, then the opportunities will present themselves. Art is a privilege. Even to consider it as a career and to say that this is going to be my means is an enormous freedom. But it goes back to what I initially said: I am not asking anybody for anything -- I'm just doing my thing.
HS: Have you considered tutoring or sharing the knowledge you’ve gained thus far?
DD: I have completed a few portfolio reviews at Central Saint Martins, London. Through this and other opportunities I have formed a community of Black creatives, some being younger, and I have become almost like a mentor to them.
Darryl Daley, Youlogy/No Ghosts, 2023. Photo Courtesy: Darryl Daley.
HS: Have you been involved in other exhibitions, and what are you looking forward to about the future?
DD: I had a screening at the Photographer's Gallery Friday Late, Home is Not a Place earlier last year. I have also participated in a group exhibition at Somerset House for 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair’s 2022 Special Project entitled ‘Children of the Diaspora’ and also in a group show entitled Come Together, Right Now! The Art of Gathering at the Chrysler Museum of Arts in Norfolk, Virginia in 2020.
Currently, I am enjoying the work and process of things more so than the accolades of specific institutions. But I have been working on some new body of work for the last two years and I aim to finish them this year.
Many thanks to Darryl Daley on behalf of MADE IN BED.
To learn more about Darryl Daley’s work, follow their Instagram.
Horcelie Sinda
Contributing Writer, MADE IN BED
