Celia Walmsley and Damani Campbell Williams (collaborators)
This collaborative artwork explores the multi-faceted talents of artist Damani Campbell Williams.
Taking as its premise the idea that the outer person is a reflection of the inner (Sobieszek. R. A, 1999), the work explores how images can both reveal and mask the inner soul.
Our aim is to expand the portrayal and understanding of a talented artist, beyond the title - ‘dancer’, ‘singer’, ‘tortured poet’ and ask ‘can the true self be revealed in 1/250 of a second?’ This collaborative work explores just a few Shadow Den Ah Di Artist - Shadows of the Artist.
Collaboration and co-authorship are essential elements in our process, form and outcomes. The work is co-authored and co-owned by the collaborators. Nothing happens without the others agreement. This reflects Daniel Palmer’s (2017) proposal on the move away, since the 1960s, from the ‘art-world trope’ of sole adventurer photographer towards collaborative work. Issues of agency, power, and the link between authorship and authority, also influence the work.
Damani Campbell Williams
I’m a dancer with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Born and raised in the UK to ‘Windrush’ generation Jamaican parents I graduated from Elmhurst Ballet School (in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet) in 2013.
Di Shadow Dem Ah Di Artist is a powerful reflection of my journey as a multidisciplinary artist of Jamaican heritage. This piece explores the hidden layers beneath a seemingly confident exterior. Through this collaborative work we explore my artistic soul in its truest, most authentic form. Working with Celia, we created a safe space to delve into the emotionality underlying my public artistic persona and ego. Shutting out the latter entirely on route to finding the depths of what lies beneath.
The title, in Jamaican Patois, honours my roots and identity, grounding this work in my heritage and the truth of who I am.
As a professional I have danced around the world as a full-time member of three European national ballet companies and now the Royal NZ Ballet, dancing in ballets by many of the world’s leading choreographers and interpreting leading roles in full length productions such as ‘Othello’ and ‘Spartacus’.
I’m also a trained and passionate singer having won awards and been offered singing work since time at school in the UK. My other skills and passions include playing the piano, song writing and poetry.
Celia Walmsley
As a photographer my artwork primarily centres on collaboration with dancers and choreographers and explores the oxymoronic relationship between stillness and movement, photography and dance.
This collaboration with friend and artist extraordinaire Damani Campbell Williams is particularly special as we share personal and professional dynamics. The narrative explores just a touch of Damani’s artistic talents.
My parents were both professional photographers so I learnt photography, on film and in dark room, from an early age. I studied photography at Brighton Technical College, UK and Master Fine Arts (Photography) at Massey University. Photography is both my profession and passion. You can see more of my work at https://www.stagebox.co.nz
Collaborations past and present, with dancers and choreographers, include Damani Campbell Williams (2024), Katherine Minor (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), Gretchen Steimle (2023), Loughlan Prior (2020, 2021, 2022), Laura Saxon-Jones (2021), Jessie McCall (2017, 2018), Jared Hemopo (2018), Emma Delabarca (2017, 2018) and Kayla Paige (2015). My work has been exhibited at the Auckland Festival of Photography, Exposure and St James Theatre, Wellington, the Aotea and Bruce Mason Centres, Auckland and the annual Artists of Bannockburn Exhibition.
