August 2017
Gallery 81435 in Telluride, Colorado presents “Although He Was Not My Kind I Followed Him Anyway” an exhibit by Dabbs Anderson. The Art Walk reception will take place Thursday, August 3, from 5 – 8 pm.
A year ago, Dabbs Anderson moved from Los Angeles to a remote property in Colorado. Of the many places Anderson has lived, the San Miguel’s have been a most nurturing and challenging chapter. Colorado has brought Anderson back to the sources of her inspiration—nature, solitude, exploration, and imagination. She found freedom in the vast space of rural living, allowing her to work larger and with more volatile materials—such as gunpowder, a blow torch, bacon, and resin—while also infusing the usual suspects, paint and pencils, with everyday mundane trash like used tea bags. Anderson elaborates, “There is an undeniable sense of danger and power in using fire to create a drawing; and there lies a grotesque, but grounding, beauty in using bacon to create a painting. Perhaps the combination of the two is American.” Anderson is interested in the way environments and their people shape how one interprets their experiences. Oscillating between energetic moments of inspiration and long periods of study and focus is essential to Anderson’s practice. Sketches and drawings from travels formed with careful but emotional mark making weave a history of journey among the creatures. The title of the show, “Although He Was Not My Kind I Followed Him Anyway,” is influenced by the great late Southern writer, Barry Hannah.
Dabbs Anderson is a multi-media artist based out of Los Angeles and Placerville, Co. Anderson received her B.F.A from the University of Mississippi in 2008 and has exhibited her work internationally for the past decade. Utilizing a strong imagination and materials that range from conventional crayons to gunpowder and bacon preserved in resin, Anderson’s work weaves us into a world entirely her own. Her sculptural work, often in the form of puppets, explores themes of communication between the conscious and the unconscious mind while her drawing and paintings are a history of mark making and illustration that unfold the secrets of a hidden world beyond the realm of reality.
The show runs thru August 2017 at Gallery 81435, located at 230 S Fir Street in Telluride, Colorado. Open daily from noon-6 p.m. or by appointment.
