EBEN DUNN is an Atlanta-based, mixed-media artist. His work, which combines elements of collage, assemblage and painting, plays with our sense of reading and understanding. Through clever use of wordplay and juxtaposition, Dunn subverts the logics of socialized morality and philosophies by highlighting ironies and inconsistencies in various political, religious and social dogmas. Combining what he calls “mathematical backgrounds”, found objects and collaged elements, he creates powerful images that unify us all and remind us to be stronger individuals.
artist statement:
My work considers the irony of man’s conflicts with his own society. These conflicts can be seen in how we as humans both identify and dis-identify with one another. Similarly, these conflicts are performed in our social, moral and even spiritual ideologies. My practice includes collecting objects and ephemera that may hold deep and reverent meaning in one setting while being perceived as banal or insignificant in another. I begin each work by carefully mapping out a composition using these found and collected objects. I then layer them with my own textual or visual iconography as a way of highlighting the often unseen or overlooked inconsistencies between the juxtaposed ideas. By combining these objects and materials and subverting them with contrasting words, phrases and images, I ultimately challenge the viewer’s perspective. My work is committed to stoking conversations between object and subject, practice and philosophy, as well as between the work itself and the viewer. Through my work I interrogate how key forces in our lives affect our narrative vs. the reality of these forces’ impact in our current circumstances.
My work considers the irony of man’s conflicts with his own society. These conflicts can be seen in how we as humans both identify and dis-identify with one another. Similarly, these conflicts are performed in our social, moral and even spiritual ideologies. My practice includes collecting objects and ephemera that may hold deep and reverent meaning in one setting while being perceived as banal or insignificant in another. I begin each work by carefully mapping out a composition using these found and collected objects. I then layer them with my own textual or visual iconography as a way of highlighting the often unseen or overlooked inconsistencies between the juxtaposed ideas. By combining these objects and materials and subverting them with contrasting words, phrases and images, I ultimately challenge the viewer’s perspective. My work is committed to stoking conversations between object and subject, practice and philosophy, as well as between the work itself and the viewer. Through my work I interrogate how key forces in our lives affect our narrative vs. the reality of these forces’ impact in our current circumstances.
Frequency series #4, mixed media on wood panel, 36x72 in., please contact us to inquire about this work
