Dana Edmonds
Montreal, CanadaBiography
Dana Edmonds lives and works in Montreal. Her multidisciplinary art practice combines painting and both graphic and web design.
Edmonds received her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax (1990). She has also studied Art Education at McGill University and Graphic Design at Dawson College. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Canada and the United States, including Rebecca Gallery, Toronto (2016), Gallery MC, New York (2016), the Ontario Society of Artists Exhibition at Neilson Park Creative Centre, Toronto (2016) and at Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax (2015). She received awards from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2017 and 2020.
Edmonds’ artistic practice combines oil painting, digital collage, photography and design. She explores various forms of urban waste and investigates the relationship between overconsumption and its effects on mental health. Her work draws from personal and intimate experiences.
About the artwork
NON-HYPOCHONDRIA MIGRAINE ID
NON-HYPOCHONDRIA MIGRAINE ID stems from the artist’s fascination for wastes. As Dana Edmonds goes for walks in the city, she notices the vast amount of garbage. Seeing the debris of used packaging, brands and logos, morally challenged her feelings around her past profession as a freelance graphic designer and brand developer. These collections of signs, text, and symbols took on a chaotic, assemblage-like quality.
Her research so far shows evidence that the effects of consumerism on mental health and wellbeing are building, and yet consumerism remains one of society’s few unquestioned doctrines. She found that materialistic tendencies can link to decreased life satisfaction, happiness, vitality, social cooperation, while increasing depression, anxiety and antisocial behaviours. The idea that consumerism is damaging our mental health while threatening our continued existence was the spark that led to her investigation into overconsumption and mental health through this series of oil paintings.
COME MEET THE ARTIST
ALEXIS NIHON (COMINAR)
1500 Avenue Atwater
Room F28
Residence completed
Photo : Camille Dubuc
Artworks by the artist
