ARTIST MEMBER Carol Dunn

I enjoy working with many non-traditional mediums, and I am always taking classes to learn and experiment with new materials and techniques. I also like to combine many techniques into one piece, which often makes it difficult to explain to someone exactly how something was created.

Although I currently work primarily in mixed media and printmaking, my first love has always been photography. I have been capturing images since age 7, when I received my first Instamatic camera. Because film and developing was an expensive “frill” for my family of modest means, I chose carefully before clicking the shutter. Each image had to be “worthy” of preservation. Early on, I got in the habit of careful composition—cropping was not an option that I could perform later. 

More than anything else in the creative process, I love the interplay of color and texture. I have spent countless hours photographing peeling paint and rusting metal. I love combining images in layers to create an entirely new image, marveling at how a space in one layer will allow the layer underneath to peak through. I layer images within Photoshop as well as physically, as when I print an altered photo on top of a traditional collage. I also like to experiment with “iphoneography;” I created “Full Moon at the Lake House” this way, but also altered it further using Photoshop.

I have recently discovered cold wax, which allows scraping back layers of paint to an earlier layer. I am also experimenting with collage and paint together, adding layers upon layers until I reach something satisfying. I hope you enjoy my works!