Gallery 1
Between Days
Ella Dunn
I began making this body of work after moving to a new area in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne. Although similar in many ways to the neighbouring suburb I moved from, I quickly began to notice distinct local nuances and experiences as I viewed my environment with fresh eyes. Lemon trees abundant with fruit hanging low over fences, a proud cat gang strutting down the street, and riding my bike through the silent streets, arms outstretched in the balmy night air. These stories keep us awake and keep us in the present.
Ella Dunn’s art practice is focused on narrative-based, figurative works. Through the medium of paint, Dunn explores her world of the everyday.
Between Days tells a fragmented story that considers the way that the spaces we inhabit and the interactions we have shape our identity and sense of belonging. Dunn explores this through documenting her immediate surroundings, examining domestic spaces of the everyday to reveal fleeting impressions. Dunn delves into domestic spaces, her immediate surrounds and personal experiences within these spaces. Dunn continues to explore connections of time, place, and the sense of identity, bringing to light the sometimes humorous, peculiar or absurd moments that can take place in mundane, familiar settings. The textural and ambiguous nature of the work scatters meaning, encouraging the viewer to create their own story and reflect on their own lives. Dunn is interested in the blurred line between reality and fiction, and what happens when you manipulate the two and allow the audience to become an active participant in the narrative.
Ella Dunn spent her formative years growing up n the mid-north coast of NSW and is currently based in Melbourne. Dunn completed a BFA (Honours) at the Victorian College of the Arts and has been exhibiting since 2014. Dunn has exhibited in Sutton Project Space, Forty Five Downstairs, ‘The Dirty Dozen’ space in Flinders street’s Campbell Arcade and at Bus Projects in Melbourne. Dunn has been awarded the John Vickery Drawing Scholarship in 2015 and the National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association Award, VCA Graduate show 2016.
