Richard L. Dana
With my art I aim to create a visually rich and compelling impact on the eyes and mind of the beholder. What a viewer takes away from my work is unimportant to me. What is important to me is that she or he has been engaged by my work. Perhaps an image of mine may provoke a random flow of private, incommunicable associations or, perhaps, evoked are intimations of a narrative, concept or idea, or two, are evoked. My interest is in enthralling, not controlling.
The inspiration for my work comes from many sources. Inspiration comes from the natural world: A snowflake, rock crystals, a coral reef, the plumage of birds, the night sky. Inspiration comes from the cultural treasures of civilizations across time and space: Traditional Chinese landscape paintings, African masks, Islamic architecture, 19th century Russian literature, 20th century Surrealist art, American jazz.. This is to say that I am directly and generally inspired by multiple and varied sources, not one, two, or three specific sources. It is the process of experimentation, however, which is the engine which drives me forward in my artistic endeavors and which transforms my many sources of inspiration into my artistic imagery.
