MALI MARELL DANDRIDGE
Styling and Art
My point of view portrayed through creative endeavors.
I use a variety of platforms to execute my digital art. For illustration, I prefer to use ProCreate on my iPad. For designing posters and graphics, I tend to use a mix of Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. Examples of my work can be viewed by clicking the above star.
Although I have always been a fashion lover who has taken much pride in my personal style, my first professional styling endeavor was costume design for production at Brown. I was the head costume designer for "Small Planet" a play that debuted at Rites and Reason Theater in Spring 2022. I conceptualized and executed the costume design for the entire cast of eight people, relying only on the theater's costume closet manager for organizational and budgeting assistance. The creative direction for the costume design was afro-futurism meets gen-z fashion. I styled all eight cast members, ensuring they reflected elements of the character's personalities in their outfits and makeup choices. Examples of my work can be viewed by clicking the above star.
My preferred medium for physical art is clay. I enjoy working with my hands and the feeling of molding a lump of clay into something of immense meaning. In a similar vein to Mickalene Thomas, I often incorporate rhinestones into my work; I do this because my work tends to depict black women and enjoy using materials that sparkle and shine--as we do. Examples of my work can be viewed by clicking the above star.
About Me.
My identity as a black femme is crucial to the understanding and development of my work. Much like my beliefs and general worldview, my creations are shaped by my home and place of origin: Oakland, CA. Themes of “development,” gentrification, displacement, and different notions of “attraction” are topics I aim to bring attention to. Because of my positionality, I am acutely aware of how systems of institutional power tend to unfairly dictate a person or place’s “worth.” Desirability politics are something I constantly contend with due to my identity as a black woman who operates in primarily white spaces, so that is a major point of influence in my work.
Other key themes I touch on include black sexuality and womanhood-- more specifically how blackness complicates traditional understandings of femininity. Black femmes are typically under-desired and over-sexualized; hypervisible but subject to societal projections-- so rarely truly seen. I aim to challenge those notions by portraying black femmes as beautiful beings deserving of care, tenderness, joy, and agency-- something we are often not afforded.
I also tend to inject elements of, often self-deprecating, humor and silliness into my work to counteract the weightiness and seriousness of other subject matters. To achieve this aim, I like to often use materials that sparkle and shine--as we do. Through creation, I am able to contend with these themes-- which ultimately facilitate my personal development.
Work with me
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