Interview with Carl Dunn
q) Let’s start with the basics; what’s your full name, where do you live and how old are you?
a) Carl Dunn. I currently live in Providence, Rhode Island, USA and I’m forty years old.
a) Yes, I attended Parsons School of Design in NYC and Parsons Paris.
q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?
a) I grew up in New York city, it’s a stimulating environment to live in. My mother is an artist
so she taught and encouraged me the most as a kid. My father, a fireman, collected 19th century
decorative stones carvings from demolished tenements for years, and I think being surrounded by
decorative ornamentation removed from its original context effected my work in some way.
q) How do you come up with your concepts?
a) The work is about colors, shapes, surface texture and narrative. I try to give the abstract and
narrative equal consideration in the developmental stage. I have deliberately vague storylines
with characters and themes that reappear periodically. These open ended stories serve as a
rudimentary starting point for my subject matter. I then allow external stimulus, design
considerations and process to dictate how a story unfolds, how characters evolve and how new
characters emerge. The finished product is usually very different from the original concept. I’d be
disappointed if it wasn’t.
them?
a) Manifestations or symptoms of an inexplicable compulsive disorder. They’re usually
numbered.
q) What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?
a) I’m starting work on a 3D animated film with photographer Julie Manso. I’d like to
experiment with animatronics.
q) What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about
the environment – maybe the right mood?
a) I generally work late in the night into the early morning, it’s the best time for me because I
can control the light in my workspace and it’s quiet.
q) What are your artistic influences? … and … generally who or what influences you the most?
a) I’m inspired by art but not in the same way that I was when I was young. When I go to
museums I still visit my favorite works of art to pay my respects but now its things like music,
tabloid news, history and fiction that influence me. I’ve been listening to online rebroadcasts of
old sci-fi, mystery and action adventure radio shows from the 1940s, that seems to be having an
effect on my work.
a) It’s a hard question to answer, here are a few; Jean Dubuffet, Bridget Riley, Chardin, George
Gross, Maurice Utrillo, Balthus, Polk, Henry Darger, Andy Warhol, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean-
Honore Fragonard, Dr. Suess, Francois Boucher, Francis Picabia…
q) What is your next project? Exhibition? Collaboration?
a) A show at Space 1026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 6th with Jordin Isip, Louie
Cordero, Jordan Awan, Gregory Benton, Mariano Ching, Kiersten Essenpreis, Evah Fan, James
Kirkpatrick, Liz Lee, and Nate Williams.
q) What are your plans for the future?
a) To finish the animated short I mentioned. The painting and sculpture series I’m working on
is continuous, open-ended. I’ve also got a fictitious field guide to poisonous insects that’s in the
wings.
q) Are there some websites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, etc.?
a) I like going to www.artchive.com to view detailed, hi-res images of fine art when I need to,
www.jordinisip.com, www.ewhite.com, www.gallagherstudio.net
q) What sort of music do you listen to?
a) All genres for the most part, big fan of jazz and percussion.
q) Do you collect anything? If so, what?
a) Teeth and bones. It’s convenient that people know this about me too, people have come to
me with various skulls of dead animals…deer, birds, cats…someone once gave me the paws of a
bobcat. I still have them in a coffee can somewhere… my girlfriend gave me her baby teeth she
had saved, I used them in my most recent beast sculpture, it’ll be on display in Philadelphia at
Space1026, July 6th.
I also collect rusted metal scraps found on sidewalks. They eventually come in handy when
making sculptures.
q) What do you do for fun?
a) My girlfriend and I both like to explore/photograph abandoned buildings. A few years back
we embarked on a project about 19th century mill buildings in New England. We explored the ins
and outs of mills in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, some abandoned some still
being used. Well what turned out to be a simple photography project of mills became something
we were consumed with for two and a half years. We interviewed people who had worked in the
mills, we were given tours of some, we put ourselves in some pretty dangerous situations too.
Afterwards we had a show with her photographs and my paintings depicting the mills at gallery
AS220 in Providence, RI.
q) Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?
a) Introspection and self-indulgence are sometimes a more effective means of reflecting your
current sociological and political environment than social commentary because it’s impossible to
gauge a situation when you’re in it. In retrospect, the artists who most effectively describe their
moment in history, more often than not did it by accident. Never have a plan B, you’re setting
yourself up for failure.
q) Your contacts…
a) www.carldunn.info/ www.flickr.com/photos/carlvdunn/ www.myspace.com/dunn367
