Visual Art – Toronto
Dana Gilchrist is an abstract artist, based in Toronto, Canada. Working primarily in acrylics, Dana creates in a variety of styles exploring various mediums, tools and techniques for mark-making. Rather than depicting realistic images, Dana prefers to create abstract, non-specific work that the viewer can impose their own experience upon. Always inspired by a love of music and rhythm, Dana creates in a spontaneous fashion, responding to and adapting to the interplay of materials as they unfold on the surface. She may begin with a notion of colour or concept but from there she allows the work to emerge as she explores. Intrigued by the idea of history and the passage of time, Dana often creates by layering several materials and then scraping, scratching, rubbing or sanding to reveal elements below. Details exposed through a worn or weathered surface honour the idea of beauty rediscovered through the endurance of time and circumstance. She often incorporates found or discarded materials into her work in an effort to bring purpose to something otherwise wasted or forgotten.