About Pat Dunning

Artist Statement

My paintings are a reflection, a meditation on my life’s physical, psychological and spiritual experiences. I believe in letting these experiences, and the immediate dynamics of the creative process itself, define my art. Subconsciously I explore beyond the illusions of reality and the immediate surface of the canvas to reach deeper subconscious mind images for an alternate truth, which is revealed to me through the creative process. For me, this process resembles a trance-like state. I begin by just plunging in with a strong emotion dictated by the recent events in my life, and allow the painting to define itself. The selection of colors, and the process of painting is a subconscious action, in which I am just an observer, and secondarily a participant of the work. In essence, “the painting paints itself”.  

The Philosophy of Lao-tzu by Stephen Mitchell, most clearly describes the creative process as it works through me, as noted above. When I lose my trust in this process and become too analytical or judgmental, my work suffers, so I have to let go of these controlling factors, and let the painting paint itself. Lao-tzu’s teachings included the use of the term “wei wu wei”, literally “doing, not-doing”, which is described in the following way: “A good artist [writer, athlete…] can enter a state of body awareness in which the right stroke at the right movement happens by itself, effortless, without any interference of the conscious will.  This is a paradigm for non-action, the purest and most effective form of action in which ‘the painting paints itself’”. 

About Pat Dunning

My educational background in art, professional experience and organizations, exhibitions, memberships, and art-related experiences are as follows:

Educational Background
Studied fine arts at the University of Pittsburg; but my Ph.D. is in Communications/Psychology. I chose this field because as a single parent, I couldn’t raise my children with a degree in art and because I’ve always been fascinated with the workings of the mind. I also studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago, and exhibited in the Institute’s student shows. In addition, as a student of art, I visited and studied art at the Louve in Paris, and the Tate Museum in London.

Professional Experience
Chair of the Humanities Department and Professor of Art at Southeastern University in Washington, DC where I lectured on the masterpieces on site at various DC art museums.

Director and Jurer of the East Liberty Arts Festival; Director of The Artists Gallery, Taught public and private art classes and guest lecturer in art, all in Pittsburgh, PA.

Professional Organizations/Memberships

Current:
Seacoast Artists’ Guild of South Carolina, Inc. 
Waccamaw Arts & Crafts Guild, Myrtle Beach, SC

Past:
International Artists’ Support Group (IASG), Washington, DC
Artists Equity, Washington DC
Museum of Women in the Arts, Wasington, DC
Washington Project for the Arts/Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, DC
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Georgetown, DC
Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC
Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC
Rockville Arts Center, Rockville, MD
Arlington Arts Center, Arlington , VA
Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
Group One, Pittsburgh, PA
The Artists’ Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Fine Arts Group, Pittsburgh, PA