{"id":8405,"date":"2026-09-18T07:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T14:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8405"},"modified":"2026-09-18T07:18:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T14:18:43","slug":"through-carved-wooden-assemblages-daniel-minter-communes-with-the-spiritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8405","title":{"rendered":"Through Carved Wooden Assemblages, Daniel Minter Communes with the Spiritual"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Through<\/p>\n

Walk into the first gallery of the group exhibition Thresholds<\/em> at the Haggerty Museum of Art<\/a>, and you\u2019ll encounter dozens of hand brooms installed in long rows. Scraps of ribbons, cords, and braids in a vast array of colors and textures bind the small tools together, with raw branches from a fallen tree jutting from the top. Made during a participatory workshop this past July at Lynden Sculpture Garden<\/a>, the sweepers are what artist Daniel Minter<\/a> calls a \u201ctalisman, tool, and object of remembrance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minter has long considered the spiritual dimension of the items we use in daily life. The broom, for example, has been an ongoing topic of inquiry as he questions what it means to cleanse and care for one\u2019s space and self and how those acts of devotion are also ones that bring empowerment. It\u2019s fitting that Minter sees his work as a service, a sort of public offering he can provide through sculpture, drawing, community projects, and more.<\/p>\n

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Based in Portland, Maine, for more than two decades, Minter was raised in Georgia during Jim Crow. He and his family lived across the street from a white-only swimming pool, and schools were segregated until the artist reached fourth grade. \u201cWhen you start seeing the systems that create these inequalities, you also can begin to notice systems that empower you,\u201d he says one morning over a video call. \u201cYou notice the systems that give you a stronger sense of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the latter was his mother\u2019s near constant singing and the artist\u2019s own desire to create. As an adolescent, Minter would carve small sticks and paint signs for neighbors who needed them. He went on to study in illustration in college and today, still collaborates on the occasional children\u2019s book. His work for Going Down Home with Daddy<\/em> even won the prestigious Caldecott Medal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the Haggerty Museum, we witness Minter\u2019s multi-faceted practice. In addition to the community-created display of brooms, the artist presents vibrant carved sculptures painted with stylized portraits and superimposed motifs. The figurative assemblages combine found objects with carefully selected materials that, as the artist sees it, become vessels for spiritual and ancestral knowledge. <\/p>\n

\u201cI came from a people with a long and complex tradition of creating exactly these kinds of tools\u2014objects of communication and transformation,\u201d Minter writes in a catalog essay for Thresholds<\/em>, which pairs the museum\u2019s holdings with the artist\u2019s sculptures. \u201cThe objects and masks from the Haggerty Museum collection bring my work into direct contact with that timeless technology. They allow me to see my carving as a way of reconnecting with and continuing
a living system of communication with the spirits, the ancestors, the unseen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Minter is also intentional about setting the scene for such communion to occur. Nature is the foundation, and each wall within his part of the exhibition represents a different facet: blue for the ocean, red for fire and thunder, and green for the forest. Verdant settings also appear in the central, freestanding sculpture, which positions an abstract, totemic figure atop astroturf. <\/p>\n

Typically presented outdoors or in a forest, the two-sided form is Minter\u2019s way of instilling hope. \u201cHow do you find the things you need to see a future when the objects before you say different?\u201d he asks. This sculpture is the artist\u2019s answer to that question and way of offering peace to anyone who encounters the piece and is willing to listen to its message.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo objects transmit spirituality? No, they remind us of our spirituality. They allow us to translate. A particular object can remind you that you can think deeply and pass this obstacle that is in front of you,\u201d he adds. \u201cThat\u2019s a service.\u201d <\/p>\n

Thresholds<\/em> is on view through December 19 at the Haggerty, which is part of Milwaukee\u2019s Marquette University. Explore Minter\u2019s practice on his website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Through Carved Wooden Assemblages, Daniel Minter Communes with the Spiritual<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walk into the first gallery of the group exhibition Thresholds at the Haggerty Museum of Art, and you\u2019ll encounter dozens of hand brooms installed in long rows. Scraps of ribbons,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}