“My latest body of work explores the integration and disintegration of identity within the contexts of relationship, gender, and culture. Through the constant process of defining and re-defining my relationship with others I have been able to confront (sometimes hesitantly and sometimes boldly) my relationship to Self. This cycle of (dis) integration is apparent in my technical approach toward the work – the fractal brushstrokes of the figure extend into the environment while traces of the environment always remain present within the figure…Ultimately, I remain endlessly curious of a painting’s ability to communicate independently from any figurative framework as energy broken down into color, texture, and movement.”
Born and raised in the foothills of northern Colorado, Sheila Dunn currently lives and works in Bend, Oregon. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting with a minor in art history from Colorado State University. Her love for creating – and belief in its absolute cultural significance – was solidified while studying abroad in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Best known for her large, vibrant figure paintings, Dunn’s work explores the fluid relationship between figure and environment: how each continuously informs and affects the other. At the heart of this exploration lies the notion that we both form – and are formed by – all we have seen and experienced.
