Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Lynn Harper.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in Columbus, Oh and have been creating since I was a child. At first that really manifested in learning how to play instruments, collecting strange objects and writing. I was working with visual images as a child but didn’t really consider being an artist until I was much older. I entered college at Ohio State as an Arts Education major, I think as a young person you experience a lot of fear because up until this point, a plan was laid out in front of you. But after you take the steps of elementary, middle to high school and then college, you begin to imagine what life will be like when you have to figure out this path on your own. I didn’t have many artists in my life, my grandmother was a painter, but it wasn’t her chosen career.
So, I had no map or blueprint for what it meant to be an artist, so I settled for Arts Education because it was the only thing my practical brain would allow. My sophomore year of school I could feel this fear of regret sneaking up on me. I knew that if I didn’t take this chance or what felt like a risk, I would live my life wondering what I gave up on. I switched my degree from Arts Education to Studio Art. This felt like such a risk at the time because I had always felt I wasn’t good enough or didn’t have enough natural talent to “make it.” But what I did know was that the next three years of my undergrad would be joyful because I would be in studio, thinking and learning in the ways that I loved. I majored in Arts & Technology, which is fine art using any sort of new technology. I continued on to graduate school, deciding to major in sculpture because I missed making work with my hands.
Graduate school changed my life, it brought me back to myself. I was able to be honest with myself, to trust myself and my need to make art. After graduating with my masters, my partner Gabe and I bought a trailer with our last $1000 and decided to travel the Country with my installation “Bloom Bloom,” We attended 14 festivals that summer, from “Art Outside” in Texas to “Great North” in Maine. After this we attended our first artist residency at “Bunker Projects” in Pittsburgh, PA. We then relocated back to my home town Columbus, OH to attend our next residency at “Second Sight Project.” We decided to make Columbus our home but I travel to about two residencies a year, where I receive a small stipend to make large installation works.
Please tell us about your art.
I make large-scale installations and have been making art full time for the past five years. Materials from hardware, craft, and thrift stores, often plastic and neon, are the starting point of my creative process. The manipulation and experimentation of these unconventional materials is the key to discovering and creating my next installation works. My practice is about the creation of joy; spreading light and empowerment by demonstrating acts of beauty and love. Installations are physical manifestations of my energy, a culmination of hours spent creating a new place for people to exist. Works are a playground for exploration, viewers engage through imagination and touch, pushing participants back into childlike sensibilities.
Each piece begins by developing a process that manipulates the material into something new. This invented technique is repeated to create massive pattern. As multiple marks, pieces and bodies come together the work highlights the importance of individuality, diversity and the power of community. There is intimacy between artist and material, each delicate process is done by hand. The labor folded into each work is born from necessity but completed through love and dedication. Manipulated material, size, color and light, make each work abstract and otherworldly, embodying endless references and leaving the work approachable to all people.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
Instagram is a great way to connect with other makers all over the country and beyond, I have found lots of great friends and clients through this platform. I think showing up to art exhibitions in your area is another great way to connect if you’re searching for local community. I’ve had artists send me e-mails asking me to come visit their studios and have found that a great intimate way to know someone. I think we all feel disconnected, even those of us who are not artists. It’s scary to reach out with a blind e-mail, but it’s very affective! The last thing is volunteer work, I spend some of my time helping local galleries with grant writing and maintenance. Working as a team for something you are passionate about is a great way to make new creative-minded friends.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I am showing nationally and recently had a show in San Antonio in March at Mantle Art Space. My next exhibition will be at Art Space in Raleigh, North Carolina in July, where I will begin my next installation. A culmination of my best works will be on display at 934 Gallery in September of this year. You can follow me on Instagram for updates, sales and commissions. (@danalynnharper) I’ve also recently launched my Patreon account.
(www.patreon.com/danalynnharper) What I love about Patreon is that people are paying for the art in advance and I get to mail it to you, twice a year or four times I year depending on how much you pledge.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.danalynnharper.com
- Email: danalynnharper@gmail.com
- Instagram: @danalynnharper
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/danalynnharper
Image Credit:
All images by the Artist: Dana Lynn Harper
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