Daniela Commey (b,2001)
I am drawn to museological objects and the distances they carry: objects that have moved across disparate places, much as we do ourselves. Working from observational sketches and photographs of artefacts, my process begins digitally; using technology to subvert scale and colour, combining multiple viewpoints before painting in oil. While layering thin veils of glaze, I bring to light materialities that emerge from pixels into paint. In doing so, I value the painted image as a site of renewed intimacy.
In dialogue with ancient art histories and their afterlives, my work moves between past and present, collapsing boundaries between object and observer, origin and display. Yet by centring gestured forms, toward and beyond the edges, I unsettle the idea of material culture as fixed in place or time. For me, painting is freeing. Through acts of doubling, I in turn question the ownership, authorship, and provenance of images and objects.
Commey received her BFA at Chelsea College of Art (2023) and is undertaking an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art. She is a recipient of the Supporting Act Grant (2022) and the Sir Frank Bowling Award (2025)
In dialogue with ancient art histories and their afterlives, my work moves between past and present, collapsing boundaries between object and observer, origin and display. Yet by centring gestured forms, toward and beyond the edges, I unsettle the idea of material culture as fixed in place or time. For me, painting is freeing. Through acts of doubling, I in turn question the ownership, authorship, and provenance of images and objects.
Commey received her BFA at Chelsea College of Art (2023) and is undertaking an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art. She is a recipient of the Supporting Act Grant (2022) and the Sir Frank Bowling Award (2025)