Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.
~ Leonardo da Vinci
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Started in the middle, but back to the beginning. Pages 1 and 2.
This is not because its Valentine's Day, but in spite of it. Page 1 and 2 completed today of the accordion book featured below the top two images in this post. I started the work in the middle, and I just got around to the first two pages today. Channeling Munch in the neurons.
"What mysterious forces precede the appearance of the processes, promote their growth and ramification, stimulate the corresponding migration of the cells and fibers in predetermined directions, as if in obedience to a skillfully arranged architectural plan, and finally establish those protoplasmic kisses, the intercellular articulations, which seem to constitute the final ecstasy of an epic love story?" -Santiago Ramón y Cajal
"What mysterious forces precede the appearance of the processes, promote their growth and ramification, stimulate the corresponding migration of the cells and fibers in predetermined directions, as if in obedience to a skillfully arranged architectural plan, and finally establish those protoplasmic kisses, the intercellular articulations, which seem to constitute the final ecstasy of an epic love story?" -Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Unfortunately, nature seems unaware of our intellectual need for convenience and unity, and very often takes delight in complication and diversity.
- Santiago Ramón y Cajal from his 1906 Nobel lecture
"The structure and connexions of neurons."
Monday, January 19, 2015
Even though my project is at the beginning stages...
...some recognition for my new drawings illustrating the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Thank you Kara Gunter! (and Cindi Boiter) for the wonderful article on my new series in Jasper. I am very touched by the thought, care and depth of the piece. Jasper Magazine - The Word on Columbia Arts.
As long as our brain is a mystery, the universe, the reflection of the structure of the brain will also be a mystery.
- Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Here are some highlights from my studio and sketchbook from 2014 and an appropriate poem to accompany them.
Happy New Year!
Sketch—New Year's Day, 1790 by Robert Burns
THIS day, Time winds th' exhausted chain;
To run the twelvemonth's length again:
I see, the old bald-pated fellow,
With ardent eyes, complexion sallow,
Adjust the unimpair'd machine,
To wheel the equal, dull routine.
The absent lover, minor heir,
In vain assail him with their prayer;
Deaf as my friend, he sees them press,
Nor makes the hour one moment less,
Will you (the Major's with the hounds,
The happy tenants share his rounds;
Coila's fair Rachel's care to-day,
And blooming Keith's engaged with Gray)
From housewife cares a minute borrow,
(That grandchild's cap will do to-morrow,)
And join with me a-moralizing;
This day's propitious to be wise in.
First, what did yesternight deliver?
“Another year has gone for ever.”
And what is this day's strong suggestion?
“The passing moment's all we rest on!”
Rest on—for what? what do we here?
Or why regard the passing year?
Will Time, amus'd with proverb'd lore,
Add to our date one minute more?
A few days may—a few years must—
Repose us in the silent dust.
Then, is it wise to damp our bliss?
Yes—all such reasonings are amiss!
The voice of Nature loudly cries,
And many a message from the skies,
That something in us never dies:
That on his frail, uncertain state,
Hang matters of eternal weight:
That future life in worlds unknown
Must take its hue from this alone;
Whether as heavenly glory bright,
Or dark as Misery's woeful night.
Since then, my honour'd first of friends,
On this poor being all depends,
Let us th' important now employ,
And live as those who never die.
Tho' you, with days and honours crown'd,
Witness that filial circle round,
(A sight life's sorrows to repulse,
A sight pale Envy to convulse),
Others now claim your chief regard;
Yourself, you wait your bright reward.
To run the twelvemonth's length again:
I see, the old bald-pated fellow,
With ardent eyes, complexion sallow,
Adjust the unimpair'd machine,
To wheel the equal, dull routine.
The absent lover, minor heir,
In vain assail him with their prayer;
Deaf as my friend, he sees them press,
Nor makes the hour one moment less,
Will you (the Major's with the hounds,
The happy tenants share his rounds;
Coila's fair Rachel's care to-day,
And blooming Keith's engaged with Gray)
From housewife cares a minute borrow,
(That grandchild's cap will do to-morrow,)
And join with me a-moralizing;
This day's propitious to be wise in.
First, what did yesternight deliver?
“Another year has gone for ever.”
And what is this day's strong suggestion?
“The passing moment's all we rest on!”
Rest on—for what? what do we here?
Or why regard the passing year?
Will Time, amus'd with proverb'd lore,
Add to our date one minute more?
A few days may—a few years must—
Repose us in the silent dust.
Then, is it wise to damp our bliss?
Yes—all such reasonings are amiss!
The voice of Nature loudly cries,
And many a message from the skies,
That something in us never dies:
That on his frail, uncertain state,
Hang matters of eternal weight:
That future life in worlds unknown
Must take its hue from this alone;
Whether as heavenly glory bright,
Or dark as Misery's woeful night.
Since then, my honour'd first of friends,
On this poor being all depends,
Let us th' important now employ,
And live as those who never die.
Tho' you, with days and honours crown'd,
Witness that filial circle round,
(A sight life's sorrows to repulse,
A sight pale Envy to convulse),
Others now claim your chief regard;
Yourself, you wait your bright reward.
DCCA Show
Personified Doubles and Complementary Opposites
Exhibit Dates:
Aug 1, 2014 - Nov 30, 2014
Location:
DCCA Beckler Family Members’ Gallery
Dawn Hunter’s paintings reveal a vivid cast of costumed characters enacting dreamlike scenarios in lush landscapes. Reminiscent of the films of the Italian director Federico Fellini, Hunter’s works combine nature, fantasy, and baroque imagery to intense psychological effect. Inspired by the Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Mannozzi’s painted female personifications of dusk and dawn, Hunter visualizes such themes of duality and contrast in her archetypal representations of men and women.
Hunter states, “Female stereotypes are constructed as balanced compositions of archetypes and prototypes, thus creating a compelling connection between that which resonates with our cultural identity and that which advertisers encourage us to pursue.” Sourcing mass-produced images of fashion models found in magazine advertisements, the artist uses these as the basis for the figures in her paintings. In this way, Dawn Hunter frames a new subjective narrative by appropriating the stereotypical models from their commercial context and recasting them in powerful, atypical roles.
-Maiza Hixson
Gretchen Hupfel Curator of Contemporary Art
Below are highlights from my exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Art Center held during the fall of 2014.
Exhibit Dates:
Aug 1, 2014 - Nov 30, 2014
Location:
DCCA Beckler Family Members’ Gallery
Dawn Hunter’s paintings reveal a vivid cast of costumed characters enacting dreamlike scenarios in lush landscapes. Reminiscent of the films of the Italian director Federico Fellini, Hunter’s works combine nature, fantasy, and baroque imagery to intense psychological effect. Inspired by the Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Mannozzi’s painted female personifications of dusk and dawn, Hunter visualizes such themes of duality and contrast in her archetypal representations of men and women.
Hunter states, “Female stereotypes are constructed as balanced compositions of archetypes and prototypes, thus creating a compelling connection between that which resonates with our cultural identity and that which advertisers encourage us to pursue.” Sourcing mass-produced images of fashion models found in magazine advertisements, the artist uses these as the basis for the figures in her paintings. In this way, Dawn Hunter frames a new subjective narrative by appropriating the stereotypical models from their commercial context and recasting them in powerful, atypical roles.
-Maiza Hixson
Gretchen Hupfel Curator of Contemporary Art
Gretchen Hupfel Curator of Contemporary Art
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