Irene Duma

ARTIST BIO

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Irene is a multidisciplinary artist who since 2016 has turned her attention to painting in oils and pastels. Drawing inspiration from her training in improv comedy and clowning, her work is characterized by its playfulness, spontaneity, and rhythmic movement.

 

Whether painting large canvases or her signature itty bitty #minidumas, her bold, painterly strokes exude energy and delight the eye with their vibrant colour and charm. Irene has a Fine Art History degree from the University of Toronto and studied illustration at Parsons School of Design.

 

Drawn to the energy and raw natural beauty of Newfoundland, she moved from Toronto to St. John’s in 2008, where she currently works and teaches out of her 100-year-old home she dubs “the unstitution.” Irene is represented by Red Ochre Gallery in St. John’s, NL and the Baccalieu Gallery in Heart’s Content, NL.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

 

I paint because:

• I love paint itself: colourful, gushy paint is a joy to play with.

• I love the act of painting: painting trains me to see things deeply. Shapes, form, colour, light, movement and patterns.

• I want to delight people through their sense of vision: to help them see things they might have missed.

• they say you fall in love with art the way you fall in love with people: the same brain circuitry is stimulated. And I like the idea of spreading love and happiness around through art.