Location: United States
I was Born in Prince, Haiti. After graduating from Frank Devieux secondary school, I left for New York.
After serving in the US army, I studied technical drafting at the School of Visual Art in New York.
In 1970 I started my own company, Metalia, in the garment district where I designed and manufactured jewelry. Over the years I had the opportunity to work with Alexis Kurt, Bill Smith and Ernest Carter.
In 1988 I created my own line ‘Damate Creations’. My focus is to provide high quality work and design to everyone’s liking and needs.
My paintings reflect a mixture of all my creativities which contribute, enrich and expand my culture.
Alternate title is The pterosaur. Daniel calls this the “UN (United Nations) bird” or the
“dinosaur bird.” Daniel has tried often to get in contact with Haiti’s representative to the
UN, first to raise money by distributing stamps with Haitian art and again when
advertising his perfume, of which all the valuable ingredients hailed from various parts of
nature in Haiti. The perfume, he says, should be protected by the Haitian government and
Vodou community due to its precious ingredients, and so the finances from it could be
controlled and overseen to prevent exploitation of Haiti’s resources—potentially
comparable to the monitoring of a national park or heritage item. He says that “a subject
so rich must be protected.”
Alternate title is Zombie. In large, colorful letters, the word soleil (sun) adorns the bottom
of the canvas. Daniel’s mascot on the top right is a foutbòl player in a spirited shade of
orange and can be found on more of his pieces. Daniel designed the mascot on the page
of a book, drawing between the lines of words until he created a full figure kicking a ball.
With this technique, he mimics the visual structure of poems he has read where words
design shapes on the pages, which also inspired the incorporation of soleil in this piece.
According to Daniel, “You need colors and drawings to describe certain words. Words
are not enough to define themselves.”
Alternate titles are The death of my mother and Mourning. Daniel describes feeling stuck
and regretful when hearing of his mother’s death in Haiti and being unable to attend her
funeral due to the strife of current American politics. Though he was married with a child
in the U.S. at this time, he was conflicted with grief and spiritually pulled to Haiti, only
able to express his mourning through his art. Notably, his signature Trouillot is signed on
the cross in the center, instead of the lower margin of the painting where it is typically
placed.
“Blue Bird”
“Portrait”
“Fete Guede”
