Dana Dekalb

1958, Indonesia

Education

1975-79 Pomona College, Claremont, CA, BA degree in Studio Art, Cum Laude


DANA DEKALB creates her own mythology of people and places by fusing an array of imagery drawn from her collection of magazine clippings, family photos, antique postcards, candid personal photographs, and travel guides from past decades. DeKalb's characters interact within diorama-like settings that are both playful and exotic. Her signature penchant for combining the real with the wildly ridiculous, mysterious, or at times futile, lends to the uniqueness of her work. In all her paintings, explains DeKalb, "the characters are determined to succeed, applying themselves earnestly to odd tasks with devotion and dry wit, despite the apparent awkwardness of their situations." The artist methodically builds up the canvas through several layers of acrylic glazes to create rich surfaces that are bathed in oddly tinted light reminiscent of theater sets or hand-colored postcards. The antique quality of her light and imagery and her strong, direct compositions recall American folk art. There is a beautiful strangeness to her paintings, whereby the actions of her subjects always appear out of context and enigmatic.


source

© Dana Dekalb