Dana Newmann

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Dana Newmann attended California College of Arts and Crafts (California School of Fine Arts) and studied Drawing with Richard Diebenkorn. A graduate of Mills College, she earned her BFA while studying painting with Italian abstractionist Afro Basaldella. Her work is in the permanent collections of several museums, including the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, the New Mexico Capitol Art Foundation, and in El Archivero, Mexico City.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a collagist. I’ve been making collages since I was sixteen. These days I work in my studio in Santa Fe, NM.

In order to compose my pieces I use archival glue to adhere together fragments of papers, discarded ephemera, and natural materials pressed flat. Sometimes I make three-dimensional works, in which the impulse to assemble unlike objects also plays a part.

I think of the process of collage-making as a kind of meditation, or a reverie. Underlying that deep quiet there is a promise held in abeyance, and the questions: Can I keep this fresh? Using just these elements? Can I make it unique? This time? Occasionally the materials I’m working with just seem to flow together: total serendipity! Yet I understand that Intuition is informed -- even trained -- by years of experience. By looking deeply. Every day. By judging. Many times the process is total struggle; I’m forced to give up, retreat momentarily, the piece unrealized. I can’t ever predict the outcome up front and that’s part of the deep pleasure of the effort. Like the gypsies say: “Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you.”

Inquire about available artwork here or call 505-372-7681

Terra Incognita III, 2023, vintage photos (paper, acetate, negatives) on hand-made Nepalese paper, 16.5 x 21 in.

Memento Mori, 2010, Cabinet of Curiosity, 24 x 21 x 6 in.

Dominos I, 2022, antique dominos, 13.75 x 13.75 x 2 in. framed (photo James Hart)

Sisters Rivalry, Dialogue Series IV, 2014, Victorian cabinet cards and handwritten text

Licorice Stack, 2014, bronze, 3 x 3.75 x 3.5 in.

Foot, 2012, bronze, 2 x 4.5 x 1.5 in.

Yves’ Sponge, 2014, bronze, 2.25 x 3 x 2.5 in.

The Dada Cabinet, 2023, Cabinet of Curiosity, 23 x 42 x 11.5 in. (photo James Hart)

Thorns I - Seton Village, 2022, thorns and shadows in deep-bezel frame, 18 x 14.5 in. (photo James Hart)

Ivory I - Seton Village, 2022, recycled antique piano keys, 17.75 x 15.75 in. (photo James Hart)