A Natural Merging

Anna Green
Ken Dunn

November 2008

Over the past several years, local artists Anna Green and Ken Dunn have lived, loved, and painted together. Coming from very different artistic traditions, their styles have naturally begun to merge, all the while maintaining their individual integrity.

Anna’s style of painting, regardless of subject, is often saturated with colour and gesture, bringing her work to life with breath and movement. Her current work is alive with fantasy and imagination, creating a magical world which evokes a sense of joy and gratitude for the fragile gift of life we all share. The works selected for this show are very bright, sensual and visually rich, displaying a playful nature, with a touch of femininity and a sense of ironic exaggeration of shapes, forms, and colors. One cannot help but being reminded of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s (Dr.Seuss) illustration art, his surreal images that became the catalyst for a humorous and inspired learning experience for kids and adults alike.

Ken’s current work delves deeply into the nature of creativity. There is an affinity to abstract expressionism in his work through his concerns with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and color relationships while acknowledging the spiritual value of art. Each painting draws from and releases the creativity of the unconscious mind and provides documentation of the artist’s here-and-now experience. Dream-like scenarios, cloaked figures, and imaginary entities emerge to challenge and inform our collective consciousness.

Ken Dunn and Anna Green have explored many vocations and interests. They operate All Tribes Radio, the Wilderside Gallery and Yoga Studio just outside Durham, play music as the folk duo Gypsy Creek and provide health care services in the areas of Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Rehabilitation.