David Van Drunen
As a graduate of The Art Institute of Toronto, David carried on the artistic legacy set by their family's creative pursuits of painting, collage, and sculpting. With a foundation in fine and digital arts and a fascination of space-time, their artwork is rooted in traditional art theories and explores modern interpretations of temporal and spacial beauty. Van Drunen has hosted intimate art shows in their apartment until their art found a home at the Robert Kananaj Gallery in Toronto, where they exhibited for many years until COVID lock-downs. They relocated to Selwyn, Ontario where being immersed in nature helped breathe life back into their artistic spirit and passions. Creating art empowers them to circumvent their dyslexia and physically grapple with the tangled pieces of their identity and world. The whole process helps them to heal, celebrate life, and find new beautiful forms to share with others.
“Time pushes and pulls seemingly isolated elements of our lives together, revealing their intricate connections. As we pass through space and experience events we fold into different forms to adapt and protect ourselves, displaying new beauty.
Drips and swirls of paint dance and reach for connectedness beyond the painting’s borders and limitations. Each colour evoking an isolated idea, and painted with the expectation of being swiped into elaborate gradients that exhibit their interwoven truths. Bending the line between ‘painting’ and ‘sculpture’, spacial elements are added with cuts and
folds obscuring the original work into something new. Each piece encourages the viewer to linger and uncover its layered temporal narratives.”