Michael Dumas
Canada
Michael Dumas (1950 - )
Michael Dumas was born and raised in a small town bordering Algonquin Park in northern Ontario, a wilderness area boasting almost three thousand miles of forest, lakes, and rivers. Such a simple and undirected thing as coming into existence in a particular cultural and physical environment has a profound way of imbedding itself in the human psyche. Two forms of isolation, one of a remote community and the other of self imposed time spent alone among the raw forces of nature, served to instill in the artist a highly observant as well as introspective nature. It is this confluence of external reality and internal response that directs and drives his art regardless of subject matter. Simply put, it is the experience that matters.
The vast majority of Michael’s art is comprised of intimate spaces with the object of attention literally within arm’s reach or nearly so. There is a noticeable omission of the grandiose and flamboyant in his choice of subject matter, and it is the modest, often unnoticed or ignored things that draw his attention and contemplation the most. This is an empathetic view and an attraction ‘to things that express the simple harmony of the everyday. There is something precious and ultimately profound in the simplest act of being.’
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
