SONDRA DORN
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Artist's Statement
My work begins with noticing particular images, compositions, colors and ‘accidental arrangements’ discovered in the spaces and objects around me.
Once an arrangement is chosen, I captured it with a photograph that becomes my starting point. This image is modified and abstracted – enhancing the feeling of the space or object.
The image is printed on 100% linen fabric to which I then add stitching marks and applique. The linen is then mounted on a birch panel, creating a rigid textured surface.
I layer, draw and collage, modifying the surfaces of each layer with paint, inks, colored pencils, charcoal and graphite – building marks, pattern and imagery as I go. Bits of sketches and drawings on paper and fabric might be added and incorporated into the composition. Sanding back onto the surface both reveals and obscures the underlying layers and often, entire areas become partially concealed by the following layer.
Although I have a sense of the direction of a piece before I begin, usually it takes on a life of its own and the conversation directs the piece. Unencumbered by my physical body, my eyes and mind are freed to fly, float and dance through the spaces I create.
It is this interaction with the small world I am creating along with the physical act of layering, marking, shifting concealing and revealing that I love and is the reason I create my work
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