Danielle Mckinney on Painting Through Dark Days and Two Concurrent Shows

Danielle Mckinney, known for intimate portraits of Black women in repose, has two concurrent exhibitions: one at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach (through Oct. 4) and another at Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York (through June 13). The Boesky show features her first watercolors and further dissolves boundaries between figures and domestic spaces. In an interview, Mckinney shares studio habits: she works alone, prefers night or early morning, and uses Damar varnish. She advises to paint even on darkest days, as those works become greatest light. She cites Jennifer Packer as a desired studio visit, and credits John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing' as foundational. She speaks to her paintings and wipes them clean to rebuild. She splurges on travel and good brushes, and keeps her studio minimalist and orderly.