14 / 24
S
elf-taught Milwaukee artist Della Wells is a visual
storyteller. Fascinated by myths and fairy tales
with hidden meanings, Wells creates layered
images from found objects. Della Wells began her formal
artistic career at the age of 42, but she has always led a
creative life—as a girl, she wanted to become a writer and
constantly imagined elaborate stories and characters. Her
early interest in fairy tales, folklore, and twisted stories
honed the storytelling skills apparent in her collages
and drawings. Working in a rich tradition of African-
American artists, Della Wells celebrates community and
cultural identity with her positive and playful depictions
of African-American women, families, and children.
Wells creates her collages from a plethora of found
objects, paper, and cloth, combining them to give each
symbol new meaning. She connects this practice of
transforming simple objects and recognizable symbols to
her desire to lead her audience to look below the surface
in everyday life. The physical fragments also relate to
the idea of “making do,” both materially and culturally,
building on marginalized histories. Simultaneously
referencing moments in art history, American history,
and African American history, Wells’ flat, colorful
collages are reminiscent of the Harlem renaissance
aesthetic of artists Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.
Among her many creative influences, Wells also identifies
self-taught artists Sam Doyle and Howard Finster.
Wells’ interest in storytelling is rooted in her fascination
with others’ recollection of their own lives. In
constructing her detailed work from found objects, Wells
takes inspiration from the lives of “discarded people,” or
the stories that time might forget. As a young girl, Wells
Her Story, My Dreams:
The Images of Della Wells
By Grace Iverson