LU DUNBAR

Artist Biography

Lu Yendryas Dunbar was born in Edmonton, Alberta, but spent most of her formative years in British Columbia. She received her Bachelor of Arts & Sciences from the University of British Columbia, and proceeded to take several art courses and workshops over the next decade.

Lu’s characteristic artwork is immediately recognizable and distinctive on many levels. Adept in many media, including watercolour and her renowned mixed media involving bentonite, Lu creates work inspired by the Badlands that are her present home. She has been involved in many exhibitions, and is a member of many art associations, including the Federation of Canadian Artists, Alberta Society of Artists, ISEA, SLMM, the Alberta Community Art Clubs Association, as well as being a founding member of the Canadian Badlands Artist Association.

Artist Statement

“One afternoon in July, 1993, I stood at the edge of Horsethief Canyon, and got my first glimpse of ‘Canada’s Badlands’. That day, we purchased our present home in the valley.

My paintings of the Hoodoos and the Badlands are not meant to be realistic depictions of this landscape, but rather an attempt to express my feelings, using the forms and colours I observe as a starting point for the image that I create. Mixed media allows me to incorporate the very materials (bentonite, sand, rocks, and organic substances) from which the Badlands were formed. I use a variety of texturing, layering and multi-media processes to create artworks that bridge many levels of perception and knowledge. Subjects include the Badlands, geological layers of the earth, the archaeology of memories, universal symbols from archaic and tribal art, sacred symbols, and light as a metaphor for energy penetrating many levels of reality.

The process of layering has freed me from the constraints of realism, and as I experiment with texture and colour, recall memories, learn new universal and sacred symbols, and play with light, I find that ‘layering’ becomes a tangible metaphor: it does ‘grow like moss’ from living and learning.”