50 | SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023
D
anielle O’Malley
grew up in
Michigan and
became fascinated with the
artistry of cartoons in her
early childhood. As she got
into school, O’Malley was
carrying around a sketchpad
and drawing images she
considered takeoffs from
her observations of those
cartoons.
Now 35 and living
in California, she has
expanded artwork into
her main focus and is
returning to Michigan with
between 20 and 30 projects
to be shown at the Funky
Ferndale Art Fair, which
is running Sept. 22-24
along Nine Mile Road and
Woodward.
“I always liked strong
visuals,” said O’Malley,
whose family artistry has
been expressed by a San
Francisco aunt, Maureen
O’Malley, a photographer,
and a Chicago cousin,
Caitlin Ryan, a performance
and video artist.
“I like to use a lot of
acrylics and gouache, and
my work has very weird
and whimsical cartoons and
surreal fantasies.”
Although artistic interests
come from her father’s side
of the family with an Irish
Catholic heritage, O’Malley
was raised in Jewish
traditions learned and
practiced by her mother’s
family. The artist revealed
that her mother’s maiden
name was Fruman.
“My mother’s family
is Russian Jewish and
includes people from
Belarus, Ukraine, Romania
and Moldova,” she said.
“Someone from Ukraine had
filled out my family tree,
and I was able to connect
with him because of stories
in the Detroit Jewish News.”
Three paintings to be
shown in Ferndale represent
the thematic leanings of
O’Malley’s artistry, which
sometimes reflects the
background described by
her maternal heritage. She
explains her art is not Judaic
and does not reflect what
she learned by attending
religious school at Temple
Beth El.
“Baba Yaga’s House,” for
example, is associated with
remembrances of her late
grandmother and ultimately
has to do with connection to
a witch presented in Slavic
fairytales. “McDonald’s
Peace Theory” is based
on a mocked political and
economic theory and has to
do with themes of mother
and child. “Garden of Eden”
is described as a happier
project that shows a fantasy
landscape with imaginary
creatures.
While O’Malley was living
in Michigan, she had shown
her work in Detroit in what
‘Weird and Whimsical’
ARTS&LIFE
ART
Danielle O’Malley to show her surreal art
at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
An acrylic
painting:
“The Garden
of Eden”