Jenelle Valentine Davenport aka Kurokiku

Working across painting, drawing, sculpture, film, and photography, Jenelle Valentine Davenport (Kurokiku) creates art informed by memory, ancestry, mythology, identity, and transformation. Drawing on her African American and Native American background, as well as roots in Africa, Asia, the Nordic regions, and Austronesia, she weaves personal and cultural heritage into contemporary mythologies. Years spent living in Japan, studying at Princeton, and experiences as a teacher and parent further inform her practice. Her paintings shift between figuration, abstraction, and expressionism, focusing on women, hybrid beings, nature, and archetypal figures. Storytelling remains central to her work, extending into literature and film. Davenport received the 2021 Director’s Choice Award.