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In her new series of paintings, Great Sand Dunes, Anna Dvorak examines the largest natural sand dunes formation in North America, found in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado which lies along the Rio Grande rift. An incredible natural phenomenon, the dunes provide a wealth of information for study, and here Dvorak observes their shadows, valleys and ridges as well as geological makeup as a starting point. From there she explores the energy and emotion underlying the movement; the response of shape to the changing natural forces – wind, morning sunrise or warm afternoon sunsets, or the wet crust of sand following a melted snowstorm. To her, the excitement is in observing nature - unpredictable, changing and constantly inspiring.
Anna Dvorak's paintings reflect inspirations drawn from the natural world, and have recently focused specifically on geologic rift areas through the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Ranges of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. She utilizes a process - part intellectual, part technical - that moves from representation toward abstraction. Throughout this process, Dvorak's intent is to create an impression of nature reflected through emotion.
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, resulting in a richly colored, layered - and subtly textured - surface.