Spotlight Artist

Dawn Southworth

Northeast
Artist profile photo
Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

Working with a multitude of materials affords me room to experiment with techniques and processes. I draw, paint, sew, collage, hammer, burn, and wrap. My work begins with the act of collecting. My studio houses well-loved fabrics, burnt ironing-board covers, found and rusted metals, vintage handwritten journals, photographs, and reclaimed canvases. When fused together they evoke a sense of testimony and nostalgia that I try to retain as I construct my own personal narrative. My intent is to pair my personal stories and memories with tales naturally embedded in the artifacts. It is with these worn objects that I simultaneously create and destroy, adorn and strip down. There is a world of whimsy in hand-drawn shapes that I am constantly exploring. I am entranced by simple figures, such as vessels, cakes, and chairs, and also by simpler abstract and organic forms. I often repeat, replicate, and reinvent a shape or symbol throughout a piece; it becomes the motif. The motif becomes a visual mantra, which mirrors the cyclical nature of my process.

Artist's Additional works

Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections

Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
Hookers and CruetsMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 42 x 30 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
AbracadabraMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 60 x 40 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage Fabric, Thread, Ephemera, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrograpy on Paper
PhrophecyMixed Media: Vintage Fabric, Thread, Ephemera, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrograpy on Paper, 42 x 30 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
TreasuryMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 60 x 40 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
TroveMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 40 x 60 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, Tin, and Pygrography on Paper
EnraptureMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, Tin, and Pygrography on Paper, 16 x 19 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
AviaryMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 30 x 40 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, and Pygrography on Paper
ShimmerMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, and Pygrography on Paper, 40 x 61 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
BewitchedMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 40 x 60 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
FacadeMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 40 x 60 inches
Mixed Media, Ephemera, Tin Can, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
La LuzMixed Media, Ephemera, Tin Can, Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 16 x 19 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage Ephemera,Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper
Keeping TimeMixed Media: Vintage Ephemera,Thread, Paint, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Paper, 16 x 19 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Nails, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Wood
ABCMixed Media: Vintage fabric, Ephemera, Thread, Nails, Pencil, Pen, and Pygrography on Wood, 32 x 32 inches
Mixed Media: Vintage Fabric, Painting, Ephemera, Thread, Nails, Paint, Pencil, Pen, Encaustic and Pygrography on Wood Box
Turning TideMixed Media: Vintage Fabric, Painting, Ephemera, Thread, Nails, Paint, Pencil, Pen, Encaustic and Pygrography on Wood Box, 32 x 32 inches

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