Spotlight Artist

Erin Dunn

Northeast
Artist profile photo
Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

I create large-scale, highly-detailed, multimedia drawings on flocking paper. I layer dense visual images by experimenting with materials and "mark-making," creating microcosms of illustrative data. Pitted against vector-based drawing programs (i.e. Adobe Illustrator), I strive to create complex, well-crafted drawings that maintain a conspicuous, handmade quality.

I also shoot stop-motion animations featuring these drawings. I render still digital jpeg's into high-definition animations, synchronizing my own digital recordings with delicate paper and wire puppets. Fusing old-fashioned animation techniques with digital media, I experiment with narration.

My process is tedious. My imagery is playful. Sea gulls fly through a garden of double helixes, a giant praying mantis leaps into swan-filled bubbles. There is no linear narrative in my work. I intend my drawings and animations to be viewed as material manifestations of a virtual landscape. The viewer navigates the work like an Internet explorer, one seductive detail points to another.

Unapologetically female in imagery and process, my work is childlike and comforting. Using the succinct language of fairytale I provide a space to reflect and imagine. The obsessive nature of my process allows me to approach art-making with intuition and sincerity, imprinting a bold tension and honesty.

Artist's Additional works

Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections

Featured artwork
Featured artwork

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