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This world is but a canvas to our imagination.

~Thoreau

A Dunn
lyssa
abdunn23@gmail.com abdunn23@gmail.com

Education
01.11-Present Saint Xavier University Bachelors in Art Honors Student 08.09-01.11 Moraine Valley Community College Associates in Arts Magna Cum Laude Phi Theta Kapa

Creative Proficiency
Painting Photography Digital Art Sculpture Printmaking Story Board Digital Design Layouts

Exhibitions
05.11 Student Juried Art Exhibition Moraine Valley Community College 04.13 Scholarship Recipients Exhibition Saint Xavier University

Technological Proficiency
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign Mac/ Windows

Awards
Art and Design Scholarship Recipiant 08.12 - 05.13 08.13-05.14

Experience
2013 Editor Opus Magazine Vol. 53 08.07-Present Jewel Osco Front End Assistant/ Scan Coordinator

MyCassicalWork
Atrwork and Design
by: Alyssa Dunn

Poetic Intellect
Art, as I see it is an integration of body and mind, something that evolves over time and is constantly changing. With the world we live in art must adapt beyond the classical principles that have remained the shell of its existence through centuries.
The work that I create speaks to me in a very intimate way. A lot of my inspiration as an artist comes from my life experiences and interactions with other people. With that, my artwork becomes something more than just a print or a painting, it becomes a piece of who I am, a piece of me that I want to show others so I can better understand them. Up until now my work has been very straightforward and fairly classical in a sense. I have not pushed many boundaries with my artwork and have been sort of stuck in a box, which I created for myself many years ago. I grew up not being able to see things beyond my own conditions in life and at the current moment I am interested in expanding my perception through my artwork. With this self-exploration I have begun to work with other mediums such as computer graphics and illustration. This magazine is an integration of both my classical and new exploratory work. Although I am aiming to demonstrate my growth as an artist and my abilities, I feel this magazine also tells a story about my growth as an individual and is quite reflective of my life experiences over the past few years. I welcome all with an open mind and receptive attitude and hope my viewers experience this content with the same principals as I.

Days of The Ages Acrylic on Rives

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Acrylic on Rives

Beautiful Life
Blissful Memories
Sometimes I lay in bed As I sense the crisp gentle wind from my fan Oh so slightly passing over my warm skin I stare at the ceiling glittering with the dim light Reflecting delicately off my television Hearing slight whispers of the actors who are embedded within

My eyes swell gradually like a movie in slow motion Until the tiny water droplets fall gracefully down my soft cheeks Sometimes I time travel To the fast curvy abandoned roads of that small town The loud resonance of Savoy radiating though our souls Windows dropped inviting in the clean tepid summer air
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My hair blew wildly in the breeze I glanced at you and time stopped Nothing else mattered Just that signal second in time In the company of you my comrade

Journey of The Soul Photograph : Burning man 10

Traveling Home
A dark night Waves crashing ashore The release of something beautifully disintegrated Starting a culture through one instance onlooking with interest It Burns From the ocean to the desert it has begun Creativity in its purest form a PEOPLE united She stands gracefully in the desert admired by many creating commonality through innovation We stand as ONE

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Unexpected Inspiration
October 2011 the college I was attending featured one of Chicagos very own, Fraser Taylor, in their professional gallery. After his opening reception my class was able to spend some time with him discussing his featured series. The time conversing with him about his work was incredibly inspirational as was his series. A few weeks after Frasers opening reception he visited my class to do a workshop with us printmaking and that is how and when this piece was created. I was very inspired by Asian culture at the time and wanted to transform the classical principles I was studying into a more modern print. Fraser taught us a very basic, but essential, technique to making paper stencils for silk screen printmaking. Through this technique rose this modern Asian inspired print. Being able to work with someone like Fraser gave me incredible insight into how influential my teachers were and future teachers would be during my creative journey.

In

Breathe
Silck Screan Print
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Among the Native Spirits

By: Alyssa Dunn Photograph 12 Throughout the summer months I spend most of my time shooting photography of nature. The area where I live is home to many different terrains; all in a day you can see everything from forests to some of the last natural parries in the midwest. This particular photo was taken on a hiking trip in Utica Illinois on ancient Indian refuge land. Indians inhabited this land durring tribal wars, all wars were lost with no survivors. Utica inhabits 3 state parks that have been cultivated since the 19th century. Matthiessen State Park ,the exact area in the photograph, is the oldest of all parks in Utica. When bought by Frederick William Matthiessen in the late 19th century the park consisted of 176-acres and 50 workers. Today the park is 1,938 acres and is home to many diverse terrains. Ever since i was first introduced to the area i have wanted to digitally capture its natural beauty.

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No Editing

Transformation Chalk Pastel on Rives

Delirium
Im crazy That I know, and think you know. Yet, in reality no one knows. Sometimes not even us. Like covert operations. Awaken with laughter Our very own sitcom, Which is most always a high time. But, on occasion It can all be very hermetic. Many thoughts, A flawless circuit. Conversing in complete darkness, Voiceless. Twilight seems to be my favorite time The afterglow of the aurora, Brings me delirium. But, since things are the way they are There is a spectrum of contingencies. Not one I like But one that needs to be. An animus Predicament If only we lived in a defectless world. With out such delicate situations. My thoughts Could be turned Into a blissful discussion. Day in and day out. The unknown makes me more Inquisitive. But only the riddler can see the future

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Anatomy Copper Etching on Rives

Vintage Booth
Dry Point Etching on Rives

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GRADUAL

Metamorphasis
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Photograph 12

In plain Sight
Inspiration can be found in the strangest places. As a naturally aware person I strive to seek out inspiration in unconventional places places. Snails, to most, are not seen as beautiful creatures. They are seen as high class food by some and disgusting by many, but to me they are incredible. Snails posses something that I admire, grace. If just for
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one moment someone took time out to examine the movement of these creatures maybe others would see what i see. The way in which they glide over surfaces is so remarkable. My journey exploring this snail started in Melbourne Florida with a Sony Cyber-shot and ended in Chicago with an iMac.

Facinating Formation
As an artist i see the world in a much different light than most. When I look at a beautiful sunset I see sorganic shapes, cool or warm color sombinations, and atmoshiric effects. When i look at a magazine I see typography, lead spreads, and Pull Quotes.
Most of the work I create begins with something I see in real life. When I see things I find inspiring I dont draw quick sketches, I write little notes about the elements or principals of design in which they poses. I precive things in this type of way with out even trying almost as if I was hardwired to think this way. When I originally took the photography of this snail all I could see was curved lines and soft shapes. In order to convey that same type of soft reality I had to start with very stagnat geomentric color blockS, to lay a solid foundation for the detail.

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Conveying Details
The small details are what convey reality. A line or shape can define 3 dimensional surfaces. To take a flat image and transform it into something more authentic, similar to its original state, can be done by focusing your eye on small characteristics. Being able to convey such features can make big things happen.

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Sequencing
Throughout my education I have continuously heard that the first idea for a piece of work is usually an immature idea. The majority of my work develops into series because of this immature notion . With the original snail illustration I just didnt feel as satisfied as I was hoping to feel, but after I started to move into my series work a new concept emerged, and each piece began to build off one another.

Creativity

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My

Functioning

Self

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I Am

More
Than A

Am Be I au ty
Snail
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Seeing
Before working with all of the adobe products I was very apprehensive about moving my artwork into the digital world in fear of loosing its authenticity. I felt that if I wasnt physically mixing colors on a palette or drawing with graphite I was in some way cheating my work. All of my assumptions about the digital world were completely wrong. After my first day using BamBoo I realized that using a computer doesnt make my artwork less authentic it just makes it different and in some ways better.

BamBoo Can Do
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What

Finding Digital
One of my biggest concerns working on a computer was not being able to show reality. As an artist who secretly admires the ability to recreate something that is basically identical to real life, I was surprised to see how my work developed into more realistic objects as my knowledge of the tools grew. Even when working in a grey scale or in mono chromatics I was shocked how dimensional my work could be.

Reality
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What Color

CAN

Can CONVEY
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Thats How

ILearned

How To

SURVIVE
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hank you for checking Out my Work and sharing the Creative Energy

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