Work of Art: Darchell Henderson

By Kendea Smith

of A Work

Malique Fernander From the moment she steps into her studio, Darchelle Henderson is surrounded by colours, textures and possibility. She’s an artist who doesn’t just create pieces but curates experiences. Her days are a canvas of brushstrokes, sketches and spontaneous inspiration. Whether she’s arranging a gallery wall, mentoring young creatives, or losing herself in the rhythm of her own work, Darchelle’s life is a reminder that art isn’t only something on the wall, it’s something that you live.

Henderson, 35, started her career more than 20 years ago. She is now a special project manager in the Current Art Gallery at Baha Mar.

When she starts her day, Darchelle begins with music to set the mood.

“It would start with pictures of my subjects doing different things. I usually work from the chest up. But after selecting the pieces, I would edit them digitally to get the highlights and dramatic shadows. And when it’s time to paint, I zone out to mostly classical music specifically, Memoirs of a Geisha,” she said.

“It puts me in a space where the art just flows.” Noting that she is considered “an overthinker”, Darchelle says she wants the work to speak to her. “If I keep drilling in on ‘No, this is not right,’ I won’t let the work speak to me. I am trying to dictate to the work what it needs to be, and it shouldn’t be that way. So, in listening to music it puts me in a trance where I can put the image down and just let the material do what it wants to do. We call them ‘happy accidents.’ Nothing is an accident. It works out perfectly where everything comes together in a cohesive way. And then, it just turns into this big, beautiful, magnificent thing,” Darchelle said.

The artist usually works on large pieces of work along with graphic work. She said in a typical piece, she tries to communicate the message of evolution. This gives her art range as the story of each piece is never quite the same.

“Of lately, I would say that my work has been centered around ancestorial heritage. I’ve been focused on going back to our roots and what that actually looks like. I started with myself. I am mixed. In my bloodline alone, I have Indian- Jamaican, white and black Bahamian. So, I went back to note where my great grandparents are from,” Darchelle explains.

“What does it look like when you are coming of age? And I did a piece on that, which is currently owned by Central Bank. It comes from a place where a person transitions from childish things to adult things. I was in that mind frame of how do you let go of the childish things you cling to and evolve into the kind of adult that you want yourself to be? How do you make that a reality? A lot of people I find have not completed that transition.

It’s really about what makes you, you, and going back to your heritage.” When creating masterpieces, Darchelle prefers solitude though she does not mind collaboration.

She added that there is no real magic formula to finishing a piece, and when she’s 85 percent completed with a task, she puts the paint brush down and analyzes it.

“I don’t look at it for another two days. When you come back, you would be able to say, ‘I just need to add a little something here or there.’ Or maybe, you don’t need to do anything at all. There is such a thing called overworking a piece. It gets to a point where it loses its message and it’s not really what it should be. Sometimes less is more when creating,” she said.

“Once an idea comes to me, I just run with it, and I start making variations of that idea. But it’s never done in a way where I think it needs to go the gallery. It comes to me as a piece of work because I felt like making it.” Darchelle has created many notable pieces including a mural on Hospital Lane in the area of the National Art Gallery called ‘Legacy’.

“I started from the Arawaks when they were killed off and when slaves were brought in from Africa. I have that transition from that to the modern Bahamian and I usually don’t paint males. But in that piece, I painted all males because even in that time we know there is a lot of power in being a woman. But I also think that the males of this generation have a lot of perspective of where their power lies and what that power is. I just wanted to highlight that,” she said.

As a single mother, Darchelle says one of her strongest skills is multi-tasking. “Sometimes, it is about scheduling. I do multiple things all at the same time. We do a lot of things simultaneously like cooking and studying, painting and studying. But that’s the only way I parent. That’s the most challenging part of what I do, balancing motherhood and being a professional artist,” she said.

“It’s a balancing act for sure.” She said the most rewarding part of her work is when young people come to her for advice.

“I tell them to stay true to themselves. Don’t allow other people’s opinions to stop you or dull your shine. Find your niche and stick with it. Always remember to evolve. Don’t get too comfortable doing the same thing. Always find ways to reinvent yourself and stand out from the crowd,” Darchelle said.