Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Dean.
Danielle, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have always perceived the world through an artistic lens—some of my earliest childhood memories are of lying in the grass and playing with my vision’s depth of field, or spending hours propped up at a drawing desk in my father’s sign shop. My unwavering fascination with photography started in the Hocking Hills of Southern Ohio at age fourteen, after my father gifted me a Pentax K1000. I immediately fell in love with the process of studying and capturing the landscape, preserving that single moment of time and light. That passion led me through my high school studies, with an emphasis on both photojournalism and fine arts, to completing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography at the Columbus College of Art and Design. There, I specialized in traditional Zone System Black and White Photography. I also reveled in the contrasting serendipitous freedom of alternative processes, lo-fi cameras, and material studies.
In 2003, I moved from Ohio to San Juan Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. I was looking for a gentle environment that was full of natural beauty, near the ocean, and had a strong arts community. For eleven years, I worked on the island as a fine artist and in arts administration. My time there helped to develop a unique visual language and connection to the land; however, I was feeling isolated and in need of a better understanding of the contemporary art world. This led me to Boston in pursuit of a Master of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The program expanded my studio practice, deepened my understanding of art in the contemporary environment, immersed me in two years of critical dialogue, and trained me to instruct at the college level. I am deeply grateful for my time at MassArt and for that immersion in Boston’s diverse arts community. After graduation, I chose to return to the Pacific Northwest, but I remain strongly connected to Boston through friends, colleagues, and gallery representation.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why, and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a multidisciplinary artist whose studio practice is rooted in photography, but includes painting, sculpture, and installation. Conceptually, my work explores a sense of place on multiple registers: geologic, geographic, environmental, bodily interactions with the landscape, and the concepts of home and perception. I am drawn to the idea of “a thin place” – a space where the veil between heaven and earth is thinner. One can find a thin place potentially anywhere, but I find it primarily when I am in nature. I am interested in creating work that sits on a threshold of perception, conveying both a sense of vastness and intimacy. I work with the dimensional space of photography in new ways by combining traditional photographic techniques, painting, drawing, and sculpture. My images start with black and white film shot through antiquated lenses. The lack of control allows the light and atmosphere of the environment to enter the camera and impress itself on the silver halide of the film. With my sculptures, I often work
directly with the land by burying the objects or submerging them in water. This direct collaboration with the environment gives the work a geographical patina, amplifying the sense of place.
My work is born out of a series of meditations. It is work in dialogue with places of natural phenomena and the study of environmental rhythms. My goal for the viewer is to be immersed in these mediations and connect to the environment. More and more, I am seeking opportunities to bring the natural world into an urban setting. Awareness of how the natural world sustains us and what we can do to preserve the environment is critical, both for our own well-being and for the future of our planet.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
The financial realities of leading a creative life are very difficult. Creating artwork takes considerable time and energy, and the materials are often expensive. This applies not just to visual artists, but to writers, poets, musicians, and so on. My hope is that when people find themselves moved by someone’s creative gifts, they find some way to financially or emotionally support and encourage them. This can be in any form—purchasing art, music, books, or concert tickets, taking a workshop—any way to contribute to keeping the creative work going. There are also ways to support non-profits that give grants and opportunities to artists, either on a national scale or in your local community. Politically, vote for representatives who value the arts, and find ways of letting them know that living in a thriving artistic community is important to your well- being.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work is represented by Gallery BOM in SoWA. I had a solo exhibition there in June 2018, and they often display my work in group exhibitions. You can visit http://www.gallerybom.com for more information. A video of the solo exhibition and artist talk can be viewed here – https://www.danielledean.com/about/
You can view my work on my website www.danielledean.com and/or sign up for my quarterly studio newsletter at d@danielledean.com where I will be announcing details about upcoming exhibitions and installations in Seattle, Portland, and New York.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.danielledean.com
- Email: d@danielledean.com
- Instagram: @ddeanphoto
Image Credit:
Artist Portrait courtesy of Chris Franek
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