Through the Lives: Ann Dunbar exhibiting in the Design Studio Gallery

Through the Lives: Ann Dunbar

Exhibiting in the Design Studio Gallery, October 14 - December 7, 2019

Opening Recetpion: Friday, October 18: 5-8pm

First Friday's: November 1 & December 6
Brunch & Artist talk: November 9, 11-1:30pm

Through the Lives: New Work by Ann Dunbar

We are all traveling on our own distinct journey. We are interacting upon our environment and others while being acted upon in return. Ann Dunbar is an Albuquerque based artist whose art practice reflects her varied interests in culture,

Ann Dunbar’s work is like an altar to human existence, looking through the lives of many people through the careful layering of images of food, clothing, history, language and cultures. Dunbar is a lifelong traveler and collector of things. She is intrigued with everyday objects that are elevated to important representations of the past. Seemingly ordinary things can create a nostalgic memory unique to each viewer.

Dunbar’s fascination with the memories her materials illicit starts around drawings of her own Tree of Life design. Carefully drawn in pencil and ink, each tree is composed of abstract components, whimsically spiraling and culminating upwards. An occasional spear penetrates a tree, symbolizing the strike of trouble and hardship. Dunbar’s background in fashion and dress design is evident in her work; building onto her drawings with bits of anything. A few of her favorite materials include found objects, vintage textbooks, magazines, foil, and paint. Paper takes on a variety of highly structured forms: rolled, cut, torn, crumpled, altered and reassembled around the trees. The finished sculptural work is protected and honored inside an austere white shadow box with silver frame.