Dale Dunning

Dale Dunning (b. Ottawa, ON) WATCH THE VIDEO  holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. While earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Mt. Allison University, NB, he studied under Lawren P. Harris. This academic training is reflected in Dunning’s approach to his work. Early on, he decided to focus on the human head and the mask.

Inspired by the Gothic and Classical periods of “Grotesque” art, his work often reflects a romantic sensibility. His sculptures may recall the Gothic literature of Mary Shelley or historical novels of Alexandre Dumas.

The head is universally recognized, easy to identify with. We live in our heads, see, feel, and experience the world in our head. It serves as the foundation upon which I can develop various paths to explore. 

~ Dale Dunning

Dunning explores a variety of materials – bronze and aluminum casting, welded screws and wrenches, typeset, cable – all in the interest of creating the form. 

In 2012, Dunning’s work was chosen to illustrate an entire volume of Dacritics, a journal of linguistic criticism published by Johns Hopkins University Press.  Dunning has exhibited across Canada and his work is held in private, corporate and public collections including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, McIntosh Gallery at Western University, Carleton University Art Collection, and the National Library of Canada.

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