Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Biography
Dana sees life as an adventure to be savored, whether she is sailing a boat, building a home, or observing the nuances of light and form. Born and raised in New Mexico and a longtime resident of Placitas, she fell in love with photography at age nine, when she began borrowing her parents’ cameras. She has studied photography and painting at UNM, the Santa Fe Photography Workshop, and other venues.
Dana exhibits annually in the Placitas Studio Tour and the Placitas Holiday Market. Her work has also appeared in various exhibitions in Albuquerque and Placitas, including the Placitas Artist Series. In 2018, Dana and thirteen other artists founded Wild Hearts Gallery, a Placitas artist collaborative. She serves on the Placitas Studio Tour Board and previously served on the board of the Placitas Holiday Sale.
Beginning with black-and-white photography, Dana concentrated on documentary, portrait, and event photography for many years. She embraced color photography only after switching to digital cameras. Gradually, she began to let go of her self-imposed rules and traditional guidelines. She now works in both black-and-white and color photography, discovering new ways to use a camera and creating images through other photographic processes. Most recently, she has explored the possibilities of encaustic photography, enjoying the ability to add wax, texture, and pigments to her photographs.
Artist Statement
For me, photography has always been a process of discovery—allowing me to examine the world closely and look more deeply into myself. My fascination with the visual world of light, shape, color, texture, and mood propels me to convey the beauty I see in a fleeting moment, a passing shadow, or a trembling leaf.
I find endless inspiration in nature: landscapes, water imagery, and especially trees and the stories they tell. I am moved by the resilience of trees, their beauty, and their quiet presence. Much of the work shown here is a tribute to the natural grace of trees, inviting reflection on their quiet strength.
I use different photographic processes to find new ways to express myself. With encaustic photography, I can choose an image and let it guide me. I add wax, color, texture, or even objects to a photograph to emphasize certain features, or I scrape away parts that are not needed. I think this is sometimes what I do with life: remember and reinterpret moments, hold on to what seems most important, and let other parts fade or become obscured by time.