Dana DeKalb

STATEMENT
My figure paintings are rooted in the narrative tradition. Primarily acrylic on canvas, polyester and wood, they incorporate multiple colored glazes, which bathe the action in a sensual, tinted light.

The characters are sourced from social studies text books, antique travel guides and high school yearbooks. They are posed in improbable dioramas that are simultaneously nostalgic and disorienting, and are often captured in a moment of decision between actions. The open-ended fables explore the unexpected, humorous and exotic in seemingly familiar situations, suggesting a morality play in progress but with the lesson left unstated.

My intention is that the viewer will become as absorbed in the characters as they are in their activities, and that perhaps some preconceptions will be gently teased along the way.

BIOGRAPHY
Most of my childhood was spent as an expatriate living in developing countries, where I acquired an appreciation for the exotic and unexpected. Every free moment of my early years was focused on drawing and painting. After graduating with a degree in Studio Art from Pomona College, I moved to the Bay Area, where I have been based ever since. My paintings have been exhibited nationally since the 1980s and are held in many private and public collections, such as Stanford University, Siemens, PayPal, Mercy Housing and Stags’ Leap Winery. My work has been reviewed in numerous publications, including San Francisco Chronicle, Visual Art Source, Southwest Art, American Art Collector, Huffington Post, Artweek and East Bay Express.