Danika Kristine Byrd (they/she) is a multi-medium artist based out of the Bay Area, California. Being self-taught and learning different mediums since the age of 2 years old, DK has over the years has developed a craft of using graphite, gouache and oil paints, and clay as their mediums of choice. They prefer to combine and explore outside of the box of what these mediums were intended for by manipulates them on various types of surfaces to create unique pieces that convey deep messages. Their work has progressed from playing with watercolours as a child to using oils and clay as an adult to replicate the long landscapes, storytelling faces and home is on the road feeling they experienced throughout their life thus far. Using art as a vessel to express and exploring their identities and the core memories that has shaped how they see the world, their every day studies and pieces influenced by the dark and beautiful times from childhood to the fruition and self discovery of their adulthood; all intertwining of pain and pleasure existing harmoniously. DK's works conjures their own analogies of life, death and the human condition expressed visually through floral language and the intense colour palette of the will to live based on verbal teachings and stories of survival from both sides of their family as well as their own navigation in the world being mixed of Haudenosaunee and German descent. With these stories and teachings passed down to them, DK feels the responsibility to artistically express with metaphoric symbolism in order to saturate our minds and leave the audience guessing what is to come after and how we show up to one another.
DK’s passion and focus through their art is to bring awareness about our world and of each other, the wonder and troubles paralleled to express the pains and joys of the journey from youth to adulthood. Their objective is to open their audience's eyes with flower meanings that bloom from DK’s muses sight to thought-provoking objects placed strategically within their pieces. DK’s imagery makes your mind think beyond the piece itself and it's relations to our lives here and now. In hopes that with each piece created, DK’s creations will help bring us closer together as individuals and shed a limelight to the appreciation of our natural environment and it preservation. Their work as their voice, DK brings awareness to the acceptance of invisible illnesses, transparency and advocacy for sex worker, queer/trans, Native and human rights, water and land protection, and much more.
The body of work that the artist DK Byrd delivers is a dynamic exploration of emotion and beauty. Their use of colors and fine detail stirs the passions of the observer. Paving a way for an open dialogue that they provoke with the focus of feminine power and cultural reconnection to the land, sea and with each other as humanity.
The ethereal aesthetic that characterizes the artist’s portfolio makes a return. The frantic application of paint and clay bodies paired with very precise imagery mirrors the personality of the artist. DK Byrd draws inspiration from their life and experiences. We are gifted with a punctuated departure of the omitted eye or combination of multiple different clay bodies that that defines the artist’s style. Blooming petals and washes of oil paint to marbled clay representing the Earth and their identity in exploring both Native and german roots, tow cultures that clash each other yet also showcase the will to survive, almost violently placed usurping the usual space we have come to expect on beautiful portraits and vessels of heroines and femme bodies. The observer is left with more questions than answers through the experience that is the presence of these pieces. It is equal parts amusement and admiration for the skill and intellect that defines the art of DK. The expressions on the faces explore painful longing and sorrow. The clay bodies tell us stories of how one can be multitudes contained in one vessel. Juxtaposed with a surreal landscape of color and nuanced symbolism the tone of the work is haunting.
Coming into their own, the artist shows mastery of mixed mediums and restraint in the new direction of their work. DK has proved to be a budding figure in the Bay Area art scene with an eye on the top. (Artist Review for Sanchez Contemporary, 2016)
DK's work have appeared in large art events like Coachella Music and Arts Festival, to small art shows frequented in West Coast and has donated pieces to organisations close to their heart, such as More Than A Cone and Planned Parenthood's iDEFY campaign. Their goal is to travel the world meeting other artists that inspire them and create more art for others to see/feel.
If you have any questions about DK Byrd's work or would like a résumé, please contact them at dkbyrd.work(at)gmail.com and we will response to as timely as possible.