Bio
Best known for her large-scale, vibrant oil paintings, Sheila Dunn lives and paints in the beautiful town of Bend, Oregon.
In 2006, she received a BFA in painting and a minor in art history from Colorado State University. Her love for creating – and belief in its absolute cultural significance – was solidified while studying abroad in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy in 2005. In the birthplace of the Renaissance she deepened her understanding of art’s ability to transform and transcend; to be a placeholder of our past and an instrument of our progress & growth.
In 2019, she was selected by the US State Department to be a featured artist in the Art in the Embassies program, founded by the Museum of Modern Art and President Kennedy in 1963. She was invited to do a week-long exchange in Kathmandu, Nepal where she gave lectures at art universities and met with prominent Nepali artists & organizations.
Sheila’s recent focus has been using her artwork as a vehicle for activism. She has donated large portions of her painting + print sales to various conservation and social justice organizations including the Conservation Alliance, Wild Salmon Center, Oregon Natural Desert Association, Central Oregon LandWatch, ACLU and International Rescue Committee.
When not in the studio, Sheila can be found exploring the wonders of the Pacific Northwest and searching for her lost keys.
Artist Statement - 2023
My work explores the fluid relationship between figure and environment: how each continuously informs and affects the other.
This exploration is apparent in my technical approach to the work: fractal brushstrokes of the figure extend into the environment while traces of the environment always remain present within the figure.
At the heart of this exploration lies the notion that we both form – and are formed by - all we have seen and experienced.
Artist Statement - 2013
My latest body of work explores the integration and disintegration of identity within the contexts of relationship, gender and culture.
Through the constant process of defining and re-defining my relationship with others I have been able to confront (sometimes hesitantly and sometimes boldly) my relationship to Self.
This cycle of (dis)integration is apparent in my technical approach toward the work – the fractal brushstrokes of the figure extend into the environment while traces of the environment always remain present within the figure.
These paintings also explore the complexity and beauty of the feminine. They represent an ever-expanding embrace of my own femininity and acknowledgement of a certain strength found only in vulnerability and tenderness.
In a culture that - at times subtly and at times overtly - expects women to be at once sexual and virginal, strong but not overbearing, sensitive but not too emotional, I aim to represent women who define sensuality, strength and sensitivity on their own terms.
Ultimately, I remain endlessly curious of a painting’s ability to communicate independently from any figurative framework as energy broken down into color, texture and movement.
