Dawn Dudek

We all make choices when selecting and sharing images online sites. I thought about how these choices define us as individuals, and how this affects our perceptions of people and ourselves.

My current project 'If you love it so much, why don't you Paint It' is an exploration based on my collection of 124 images saved to my pinterest board. It was important that I would make this piece from subject matter I had not anticipated painting, this spoke directly to my amassing random images solely for the reason that I liked them. Only after seeing them together online did they resonate as a digital self portrait. Through the act of painting I am able to explore identity, ownership and a more personal relationship with each image as it relates to me and how they relate to each other.

My new series of paintings titled 'The adder beneath the rose' are inspired by the epiphyte, a plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant.

It was the unique shape, depth and enigmatic quality of the Australian staghorn fern from my sister's garden in New South Wales that captivated me. Portraying this species with other landscapes and images from popular culture broadens the themes of alienation, dependency and elicits associations with ignes fatui.