When you’re a survivor of violence, particularly sexual violence, it’s your duty to try to reclaim your body and your life, and McDaniel’s remit is exactly that.
In a statement on her website, McDaniel says, “Practice lies in social research, oil portraiture, emotional aesthetics, and the use of technology to fuse audio and visual representations of her subjects”. As a survivor of sexual violence, she creates safe spaces for women survivors to forge paths towards healing.
As part of this process, McDaniel has created an immersive experience allowing the subjects to choose how they are portrayed; right down to choosing how they sit or stand and with various levels of anonymity while incorporating the voices of the survivors through the use of technology. The hope is that the interaction of the voices and the painting combined will create greater understanding. 
Gisela McDaniel. Photo: Pilar Corrias Gallery
Born in Cleveland and based in Detroit, McDaniel received her BFA from the University of Michigan. She describes herself as “a diasporic indigenous Chamorro feminist artist”. A proud member of Detroit Art Babes, an intersectional feminist art collective that gives women the opportunity to be creative regardless of their background or social standing.
A Nod to Gauguin
It would be impossible not to recognize the similarities to Gauguin.
#FemaleArtist #Gauguin #GiselaMcDaniel #Photography

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