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Anna Dvorak is a Minnesota native who divides her time between Colorado and Minneapolis.
Dvorak received a BA in art from the College of St Catherine in St. Paul, MN in 1991, and continued her arts education at the Art Students League in New York City for 14 months in 1999-2000, studying with Ronnie Landfield, George Cannata, and William Scharf.
When she isn't painting, Dvorak teaches classes and leads retreats as a nutrition and wellness guide. Passionate about healthy living, she shows how healthier choices can be attainable for our skin, home environment and bodies through natural products, organic ingredients, and balanced living. Her cooking classes focus on decadent simplicity in vegetarian, vegan and raw foods, while her body and skin care classes emphasize products that soothe and protect the skin using natural and herb-infused ingredients. Anna teaches at the Wedge Co-op and other Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area co-ops, at Local D’Lish, and leads weekend retreats focused on exploring balanced living. She is certified as a Nutrition and Wellness consultant.
Artist Statement
The paintings represented on this site show different series created in recent years. The work itself reflects inspirations drawn from the natural world, specifically the geologic rift area rock formations of the Afro-Syrian Rift in Israel, and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and utilizes a process - part intellectual, part technical - that moves from representation toward abstraction.
My initial impressions (line, form, color, tonality, mood) are reduced into formal, generally representational sketches and studies - charcoal, pencil, watercolor - that serve as the foundation for a painting or series. Within this foundation, I find one or more points of focus. Abstracted images emerge through a careful investigation of smaller, defined areas, tonalities, mood; through an exploration of light, shape or form. Over time, the abstraction assumes a greater importance in relation to the representational form itself, while still respecting and reflecting both that form and the initial source of inspiration.
Technically, the paintings are created by staining unprimed raw canvas with layers of acrylic paint applied in extremely liquid form. Paintings created this fashion are slowly built up over weeks layer upon layer. The unpredictability of liquid acrylics, when harnessed, results in the naturally fluid state of the colors. The result is richly colored, layered - and subtly textured - surface. The paintings hint of the initial watercolor studies, but gain a depth and intensity from the fluid and heavy body applied acrylics.
Throughout this process, my intent is to create an impression of nature reflected through emotion. The abstracted images take their direction and shape from nature and retain their most vital characteristics in an essential way, reflecting through the process the unpredictable quality of nature itself.
Exhibitions
2010 Art of the Dunes - San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, Alamosa, CO
2009 Art of the Dunes - Denver Int'l Airport September 12 2009 - January 12 2010
2009 Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2008 Joan of Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, solo show
2008 Great Sand Dunes National Park Visitor Center, CO, group show, painting
2008 Space Gallery, Denver CO, two-person show, paintings
2007 Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul MN, solo show
2007 Joan of Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, solo show
2006 Arvada Center, Arvada CO, invitational group show, pastels
2006 Frank Stone Gallery, Minneapolis MN, three-person show, paintings
2006 Space Gallery, Denver CO, Nature’s Rhythm: three-person show, paintings
2005 Arvada Center, Arvada CO, invitational group show, pastels
2005 Gallery 360º, Minneapolis MN, rotating exhibition, paintings
2004 Frank Stone Gallery, Minneapolis MN, group show, paintings
2004 Frank Stone Gallery, Minneapolis MN, “Five Women, Five Creative Souls”, paintings
2004 Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis MN, paintings
2004 Gallery 360º, Minneapolis MN, rotating exhibition, paintings
2004 Gallery 360º, Minneapolis MN, “5 foot show”, paintings
2003 Crema Cafe, Minneapolis MN, two-person exhibition, paintings
2003 Affinity Credit Union, Minneapolis MN, solo exhibition, paintings
2003 Gallery 360º, Minneapolis MN, rotating exhibition, paintings
2001 Crema Cafe, Minneapolis MN, solo exhibition, paintings
2001 Art Students League, NYC, group exhibition, drawings
2001 Art Students League, NYC, group exhibition, paintings
2000 Art Students League, NYC, group exhibition, drawings
2000 Art Students League, NYC, group exhibition, paintings
1998 Cooks of Crocus Hill, Saint Paul MN, group exhibition, “Food Art”
1991 College of St. Catherine, Saint Paul MN, B.A. graduation solo exhibition
photo credit: Michael Dvorak www.dvorakphotography.com