Esmaa Mohamoud Canadian, b. 1992
Darkness Doesn’t Rise To The Sun But We Do, 2020
Steel, paint, epoxy
8 1/2 x 12 x 9 in
21.6 x 30.5 x 22.9 cm
21.6 x 30.5 x 22.9 cm
AP edition of 4
8069
This painted, metal sculpture of a dandelion by African-Canadian artist Esmaa Mohamoud is part of a series titled Faith in the Seeds. The series memorializes Black people who have been...
This painted, metal sculpture of a dandelion by African-Canadian artist Esmaa Mohamoud is part of a series titled Faith in the Seeds. The series memorializes Black people who have been killed by police. As suggested by its title, Darkness Doesn’t Rise To The Sun But We Do, the work is a tribute to resilience and a critique of stereotypes against people of color. Mohamoud chose the dandelion for this body of work because of the plant’s arbitrary status as a despised weed in contemporary Western society, despite the fact that it has been utilized for millennia by cultures around the world both as a symbol of poetic beauty and as a tremendous source of nutrition.
Says Mohamoud, “The dandelion, though a wildflower, is commonly labeled as a weed to be eradicated at all costs, believed to ruin landscapes with its pervasiveness. Due to many qualities, including its strong roots, the dandelion is one of the most resilient plants—thriving in many difficult conditions. One of the most magical aspects of the dandelion is its ability to spread its seeds through the air to grow and thrive in new places. This makes me think of the African diaspora and how we, as Black people, have had to spread our seeds and thrive and grow in new places. As such, this wildflower is here used to symbolize the ability to rise above life’s challenges.”
Mohamoud is a 2021 Artist-in-Residence in Kehinde Wiley’s renowned Black Rock Senegal residency program in Dakar, Senegal. Her critically acclaimed solo exhibition To Play in the Face of Certain Defeat (originated at Museum London in Ontario) is currently on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario), and will travel in 2022 to the Art Gallery of Ottawa and the Art Gallery of Winnipeg, concluding at the Art Gallery of Alberta in 2023. In 2022, Mohamoud’s work will be included in the exhibition Garmenting: Costume and Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, USA. Her work has previously been exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum; Museum of Fine Arts Montreal; and Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNCG, Greensboro, NC, USA, among others. Works by Mohamoud are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada; Art Gallery of Ontario; Weatherspoon Museum; Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan; Museum London; and University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries, among others.
Says Mohamoud, “The dandelion, though a wildflower, is commonly labeled as a weed to be eradicated at all costs, believed to ruin landscapes with its pervasiveness. Due to many qualities, including its strong roots, the dandelion is one of the most resilient plants—thriving in many difficult conditions. One of the most magical aspects of the dandelion is its ability to spread its seeds through the air to grow and thrive in new places. This makes me think of the African diaspora and how we, as Black people, have had to spread our seeds and thrive and grow in new places. As such, this wildflower is here used to symbolize the ability to rise above life’s challenges.”
Mohamoud is a 2021 Artist-in-Residence in Kehinde Wiley’s renowned Black Rock Senegal residency program in Dakar, Senegal. Her critically acclaimed solo exhibition To Play in the Face of Certain Defeat (originated at Museum London in Ontario) is currently on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario), and will travel in 2022 to the Art Gallery of Ottawa and the Art Gallery of Winnipeg, concluding at the Art Gallery of Alberta in 2023. In 2022, Mohamoud’s work will be included in the exhibition Garmenting: Costume and Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, USA. Her work has previously been exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum; Museum of Fine Arts Montreal; and Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNCG, Greensboro, NC, USA, among others. Works by Mohamoud are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada; Art Gallery of Ontario; Weatherspoon Museum; Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan; Museum London; and University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries, among others.