Joanna Dur
oil on canvas

portrait
My art is heavily influenced by my time spent living in Nepal, studying the ancient art of Buddhist Thangka painting.  While the mandalas of my eastern influences were stable and often-linear expressions of integration, my art, like me, is not as restful. I enjoy playing with forcefully whimsical imagery and overindulgent color palettes that celebrate the beautiful mess of the human condition.  In fact, I feel most successful when the moment on canvas is imbued with the existential uncertainty of whether the imagery will come to rest in a stable condition, or dissolve into disorder.  Somehow, striking a balance between these natural forces on canvas eases the discomfort I feel by my own uncertain and shifting depths.   Because whether all the pieces are coming together or falling apart becomes irrelevant, and what's left is a celebration of all the conditions that have brought the work into being.