Lichtenstein Roy
Lichtenstein Roy
Canadian artist Fiona Dunnett: images of himself and death in Oaxaca are muted by the comic style and collage
Alvin Starkman, MA, LL.B.
The cartoons, a young Canadian self-portraits and photographs of violent death in a Mexican newspaper, make strange bedfellows. But an important part of the driving force behind the creative energies of artist Fiona Dunnett, a resident of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Ottawa-born Dunnett has been living in Oaxaca since 2005. As in the case of many artists who now reside in this city in southern Mexico, its arrival has been quite tortuous. And like so many others, his artistic talent has been influenced in almost every stop on the road. Five years after leaving Canada with her mother to Bangladesh diplomat Canada and the rest of his family. After three years I was back to Ottawa, then another three years in Zimbabwe.
"When I left I felt close to Zimbabwe to South Africa. I took a course in sculpture in stone, while there, so yes, I suppose living in Zimbabwe has had some influence in what I do today, "conjecture. But it was his superior academic training, first at the Canterbury School of Arts, followed by Columbia University British Victoria, where he graduated with honors. Bachelor of Fine Arts, which exposed the characters who have influenced his creativity to the fullest.
"I had a great interest in the work of Gustav Klimt [1862 - 1918]," reveals Dunnett. The Austrian symbolist painter was one of the most prominent members of Vienna Art Nouveau movement, however, a controversial figure in his time, criticized for his works are too sensual and erotic. She continues: "But Lichtenstein whose art I've really become more of a conscious effort to respect and carry forward, print some of my own personality and life experiences. "
Roy Fox Lichtenstein [1923 - 1997] was a prominent American pop artist whose work was heavily influenced by advertising, both popular and comic style. The latter clearly shines through more recent works, Dunnett, and in earlier work that adorns the wall of his house in the neighborhood of Xochimilco, Oaxaca, who shares with her boyfriend and three others: "That is based on a dream I had, indeed, with images of comic book open on the particular dream there was a timetable (parade) with the bodies being dragged through the streets. I once did a series based on my dreams. I dyed my hair red sky as part of the background of this canvas cochineal [the insect acid produced naturally carminic minute, and was one of the important export industry in colonial Oaxaca]. "
Dunnett is too modest. Since moving to Oaxaca no doubt that she put her own mark in the comic style, with its non-overwhelming desire to learn and innovate. The geographical cultural and political context in which he lives provides diverse opportunities for artistic inspiration. He attended a workshop to learn about using natural dyes, such as flowers, plants and mealybug course in Education and research center known as the Center for Dissemination of Tlapanochestli Cochineal. "For some time I had been thinking about using natural dyes in my work, but it was not until a couple of years I realized that here in Oaxaca [actually, a few kilometers from the city, in Santa Maria Coyotepec] I had the opportunity to learn about their use of an expert, Manuel Loera Fernández, chemist the Tlapanochestli. There is only so much artistic stimulation in Oaxaca, which is hard to resist take advantage of everything available. "
Dunnett also has participated in more traditional workshops in the renowned Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca (IAGO) and a couple of other institutes in the city. Toward the other end of the spectrum, attributed two local groups of graffiti stencil art with providing additional inspiration, which is evident after a examination of their work.
"I began to move away from realism and stylized, surreal works towards the end of my academic training in Canada. It was about the same time I started working with mixed media, my strong preference at this stage of my development. "Coming to Oaxaca was perhaps the catalyst needed to begin the more experimental work in the context of a very encouraging environment.
Apart from an inclination towards the use of natural colors for funds from their canvases, one of the major identifying characteristics of Dunnett's job is the use of collage — newspaper clippings, magazines and comic books. Another is the use of photographs of his own head and face to provide the stimulus for its representation of expressions and poses that seeks to capture each subject. Almost all the head of each work is based on a self-portrait gallery:
"I started doing self-portraits when I started doing photography several years ago. Then when I moved to painting, I had this body of self-photos, so I could learn from them for my art. Although I wanted to kill other people, I never felt comfortable doing so. And while my boyfriend and I have been together for almost four years, yet feel comfortable shooting even him. So all I, perhaps because of being shy when it comes to shooting others. But a red, textured leaves with corn tamales, is an experiment, with a face that does not is my own — I think it's best if I stick to my face. "
Each face evokes different emotions and images of himself. "The faces to make eye contact, viewers eyes move around each work and then return to the eyes and face, "he explains. It is undeniable that the very characteristics Dunnett pleasant face, and your com port, once transferred to the web, play an important role in the direction of the viewer. Masterfully photographed the head and upper the body at all angles and with a lot of facial expressions for use in their work.
But there is another reason to go back to images of Dunnett's facial expressions: the torso and limbs of each main subject is too disturbing portrayed — each is a digitized version of a photograph of a person who has died a violent death, usually in a traffic accident or as a result of internal conflict, captured by Dunnett both print and online versions of a Oaxacan daily Noticias Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca. But the artist, there is a sense of calm.
"I started to use the photos as it only started jumping on me. Never seen anything like it in Canada. In Oaxaca, in the corners and kiosks. Death here seems to be something everyday, and attitudes toward death are so different from where you and I come from, not so hidden. "
Dunnett noted that his intention is not to invoke feelings of horror, or revealing the ugly. The facial expressions that initially captured through a lens, and then transferred to canvas with a brush, take us away. In the case of his collage work with an iguana, is the curiosity in his face, rather than demonic images of death, that draws one in.
The juxtaposition death against the aesthetics of comic images is striking, almost as much as multiple submissions Dunnett itself. It is this combination that keeps amazement of spectators and transfixation about their work. Fiona Dunnett may never get out of their reluctance About photograph the faces of others.
About the Author
Alvin Starkman received his Masters in Social Anthropology in 1978. After teaching for a few years he attended Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, thereafter embarking upon a career as a litigator until 2004. Alvin now resides in Oaxaca, where he writes, leads small group tours to the villages, markets, ruins and other sites, is a consultant to film production companies, and operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast. ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ) .