Artist Richard L. Dana

Above

Date1995

MediumMixed media on canvas

Dimensions20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Framed Size: 24 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (62.2 x 52.1 cm)

Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection

Object numberDCCAH2000.007

ClassificationsPaintings

Locations

Department of Energy & Environment (1200 First Street NE)

Description"Above" is one of twenty paintings from Richard Dana’s Dancers series. The paintings in the series are both an appreciation of the many types of dance there are and have been around the world, and a celebration of creativity. For this series the background of the painting is abstract and was created in as unpremeditated a way as possible. The artist next painted onto the background a “design” of some sort, such as bands of color, part of a tapestry or a geometrical abstraction. Then a dancer is painted. To the artist, the unpremeditated background and premeditated design together symbolize the essence of creativity. The artist must spend a lifetime perfecting skills but then, in the creative moment, “forget” these skills in order to bring forth heart, soul and emotions Dancers practice a dance’s steps over and over, but when they perform the dance they are not thinking about the steps; they are giving the steps heart, soul and emotion. The dancer in the painting is a representation of an Indian artist who is performing a traditional dance.