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About Danielle

Baltimore City  

I'm Danielle Kepeden(she/her), a Baleng* cis queer multimedia ​self-taught artist based on Piscataway and Susquehannock lands (Baltimore, MD) from ​Yaoundé, Cameroon. I currently work with textiles, ​acrylic paint, and digital media.

The central thesis in my work is the question "whose ​imagination are you living in?", a powerful inquiry ​inviting us to interrogate abrahamic, imperialist, white ​supremacist, cisheteronormative and capitalist norms ​that shape our… more

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Trusting Memories

The series Trusting Memories is a ​meditation on queer African ​histories, the legacy of colonization, ​personal and collective memory, ​grief, shame and love.

The phrase “tu as appris ça où” ​(translated as “where did you learn ​that”) in my work was posed to me when I came out, which I return to the audience to critique societal ​prejudices against queer and trans folks, ​challenging us to inspect the roots of queerphobia and transphobia (hint: it's colonialism, misogyny and white supremacy). ​This series embodies my ​commitment to uncover queer and trans African histories I was never taught and reconnecting with queer and trans ancestors I'll never know by name.

We were always ​here. We will always be here.

  • Remembering
    Remembering
  • Tu As Appris Ca Ou?
    Tu As Appris Ca Ou?
  • Untitled 2
    Untitled 2

    “Untitled 2”
    Materials: ink, acrylic paint, joint compound.
    tu as appris ça oú? translation: where did you learn that (these words are repeated throughout the piece)
    .
    A meditation on queer African history, the legacy of colonization, personal and collective memory, shame and love. The central thesis in my work is the question “whose imagination are you living in?”, a powerful inquiry inviting us to interrogate white supremacist, cisheteronormative and capitalist norms that shape our societies and erode our bodies and minds. I first heard it on a podcast (Bitchface) and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. This first painting of the series, Ancestors are Watching, looks to the past and reflects on erased queer African histories while the second, Untitled 2, looks forward to abundant, affirming futures.

  • Ancestors Are Watching
    Ancestors Are Watching

    “Ancestors Are Watching”
    Materials: burned Bamiléké Ndop cloth, red sewing thread, ink, acrylic paint.
    tu as appris ça oú? translation: where did you learn that (these words are repeated throughout the piece)
    .
    A meditation on queer African history, the legacy of colonization, personal and collective memory, shame and love. The central thesis in my work is the question “whose imagination are you living in?”, a powerful inquiry inviting us to interrogate Abrahamic, white supremacist, cisheteronormative and capitalist norms that shape our societies and erode our bodies and minds. This first painting of the series, Ancestors are Watching, looks to the past and reflects on erased queer African histories while the second, Untitled 2, looks forward to abundant, affirming futures.

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