Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Sierra.
Hi Danielle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Avenal, California—a small rural farming town populated mainly by a Mexican demographic, but with some diversity. My father, Ernie Sierra, started me on the artist journey when I was young by nurturing imagination and wonder in my heart. I’ve been drawing since I can remember. When he saw that I took to it like a flower to water (his words), he nurtured the talent with lessons in drawing. I decided in 6th grade that I was going to be an artist. In high school, I was set on becoming a professional artist, but I worried about making a living. Society and culture tells us that art is not an actual profession and that you cannot make money as an artist (a lie that I bought into). So, I decided I would teach high school art as my future job because I didn’t know any other way of making money by doing art.
In high school, I was the art kid. I took every art class and attended the California State Summer School for Arts before attending college, where I majored in art. I attended two junior colleges before getting my BA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting at California State University, Fresno. After graduating, I submitted work everywhere I could in Fresno. I took the CBEST to get a teaching certification; however, I did not pass the math portion by 2 points. You can imagine my disappointment. I also realized at this point that the art world was more vast than I realized, and I no longer wanted to teach high school art. I was in several group shows and exhibitions before deciding to try my hand at graduate school.
I moved to Memphis in 2013 to attend grad school, but it didn’t work out. I stayed in Memphis and became a painting instructor. I built up my studio practice and resume by showing in group shows. Memphis has a wonderful art community that I quickly felt at home in. I met so many wonderful people through the arts. I was still navigating how to be a working professional artist. Being an artist means never giving up. I have strongly felt my entire life that God made me an artist for a reason, with my natural gifts and talents, but also the skills I have worked to develop throughout my life. Being an artist can be discouraging due to the lack of support, funding, and general respect for the arts, but the key is perseverance.
I decided to try my hand at murals and applied to the District Mural Program, where Mural Arts Philadelphia trained me in the muraling arts through the Urban Art Commission. I owe a lot to this fantastic program; UAC is a jewel in the arts culture of Memphis. In 2019, I was accepted into the Graduate Program for Painting at the University of Memphis. I grew tremendously here. I owe much specifically to Richard Lou, Hamlett Dobbins, Jed Jackson, and Beth Patterson. These are giants and precious people in the arts here in Memphis.
After I graduated with my MFA in Painting in 2022, I taught Drawing as an adjunct for U of M. Then, in 2023, I was accepted into the Crosstown Arts Residency. This was a lovely experience that helped give me a jumping off point for my recent mid-career studio practice. In 2024, I was hired as an Assistant Professor of Art for Drawing and Painting at Union University. I had my first solo exhibition at Crosstown Arts this spring. It was titled “Supernatural Telescope,” it ran from February 7th to May 11th. It was dedicated to my father, who passed away in 2024. I look at where I am today, and the blessing of it all is honestly more than I deserve. Trials, celebrations, mourning, and joy.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course not. One of my main struggles was finding opportunities as an artist, even more so, finding opportunities as a minority woman of color. There was no road map on how to be an artist given to me. My undergraduate education taught me that you make a portfolio and you submit your work. But where? When? How? I didn’t truly know how the gallery world worked, I didn’t know what an artist residency was, I didn’t know how you get into making murals, and I wasn’t even sure how you became a professor of art. The reality of all this is more of a grind than they prepare you for. Maybe my education was lacking, but I was not privy to the expanse of the world I was entering into. I didn’t even realize I could attend grad school as an artist when I was younger. The education of artists needs to be more all-encompassing. Our artwork should be based on the highest heights of our imagination, but our actual work of expanding our career should be grounded in reality; both should be taught to young artists at the undergraduate level (something I endeavor to do as a professor now).
Another obstacle for me was my mental health. Mental health awareness, advocacy, and treatment have made such strides in the last 10 years in my personal experience, but still need to improve significantly. I have struggled with anxiety and depression since I was a child, but I did not know that was what I was battling till I was diagnosed when I was 28. Its impact on your life, quality of life, relationships, and work seems so unfair. I spent about 10 years after my diagnosis developing coping mechanisms, safeguard habits, and treatment plans that worked. I think about the people who have helped me in this and also the people who have shown me grace when the anxiety and depression were winning in my life, how much their support and often forgiveness meant to me, it’s beyond measure. The key factor in my treatment has and always will be my faith.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an artist who devises artistic designs made of wood in the form of paintings. I’m a painter, and I would just like to say that painting will never die. I specialize in conjuring wonder from the depths of the heart, combining reality and dreams through a lens of faith. I am inspired by the bible and the love God has shown me. Biblical themes run through the core of my art, but the imagery is my own iconography that translates imagination to the contemporary. I love to paint people. People are so beautiful. The curve of a hip, the contour of the wrist, the line of a lip, the bend of an elbow… just beautiful. I love to paint flowers, currently and most specifically the Nelumbo Lutea, also known as the American Lotus flower. It is large, bulbous, and a luminous light yellow. It shoots out of the water, usually 2-3 feet above it, looking like it’s walking on the water, so I call it my Jesus flower. I would say that’s what I’m known for: painting the human figure and the lotus flower on layered wood with bold color in narrative compositions. But, I just want to be known for making art that makes you feel something, joy in the midst of the heartache of life.
I’m most proud of my recent exhibition at Crosstown Arts, “Supernatural Telescope.” It was a loving offering to my earthly and heavenly fathers. It encompassed the entire space from floor to ceiling, from “Little Living Water,” a painted little Nelumbo Lutea in water sitting on the floor, to painted stars drawing you up to the ceiling. It had paintings that told stories about my father. It included the use of text, a new introduction into my visual arsenal, and quotes by my father that spoke to me and now to everyone who saw them. I had so many people tell me that it was their favorite exhibit to date, and some came to me in tears because it moved them so much. They felt such positivity and love. It was the first time I felt like my art made people feel the intention of the work. They got to experience the whole story all together. I think everyone who saw it walked away with a little bit of wonder in their pocket, reclaimed from childhood and love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://daniellesierra.com
- Instagram: @danyelipooh
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artofdaniellesierra
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@danyelipooh
