Friday, March 5, 2010

Momentum Artist: Lucas Dunn, OKC

Lucas Dunn, OKC
In the Midler of the Night
Mixed Media

Q: What was the concept behind your Momentum artwork?
A: I came home from thrift-store shopping on a Saturday afternoon and noticed something funny poking out of a pile of trash across the street. I walked over and saw that it was a pretty awful painting of the Bette Midler's self-titled album cover. The body looked fine, but the face had the unfortunate appearance of a blow-up doll... Round lips making a hard 'O,' dead eyes, just all wrong. I thought, "This is great, but I think I can make it better" (no pun intended). I took it out of the pile of rubbish it had been left to and stood it in my living room, wiped the dust off, and got my brushes out.

My work is almost exclusively made on found material- scraps of wood, thrown-away paintings, thrift-store canvases, etc. Mostly, it is because I'm cheap, but I like the spark of inspiration that comes with strange trash.

Q: Explain the technique and/or process you used to create your Momentum work.
A: After salvaging the abandoned Midler painting, I took at it with acrylic paint, watercolors, spray paint, oil pastels, and a little cut-and-paste until I was satisfied with the colors and composition. Not much more complicated than that. I gave the piece a "cinematic" look by spraying a big black slash across the piece and added a few vertical lines, alluding to the look of film frames. I wanted the colors to go in a few vibrant bursts and keep a little more muted over the rest of the piece. I have a very automatic process, so I don't suppose I could wax intellectual over it more than that.

View, Purchase and Experience Artwork by Oklahoma's Emerging Young Artists at Momentum OKC tonight 6 pm-midnight and tomorrow 8 pm-midnight! Gallery Hours: March 9, 10 & 11. Tickets and more information: www.MomentumOklahoma.org.

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