09/23/2026
"My paintings and drawings orbit around a shifting cast of surreal creatures, apparitions, and personifications engaged in morally ambiguous hijinks. These characters contain multitudes: sometimes they appear benevolent, other times they are engaged in destruction. Some of these characters and motifs do represent, or at least resemble, aspects of myself or others, but I do not consider my work to be biographical. That said, the absurd escapades these characters find themselves in are inevitably inspired by personal or universal human pitfalls that I want to analyze and interpret through the act of painting.
My most current work utilizes the compositional structures of history painting as visual starting points for automatic drawings that turn into paintings. I have always been fascinated by the phenomenon of paradeolia, the human ability to see images and patterns in abstract phenomenon like clouds, tree bark, burnt toast…"
Dana's paintings can be seen at Chatwin Arts this month in our current exhibition Shifting Light, which will be on view until this Saturday, September 26th.
Dana Blume (b. 1993) is a Seattle-based artist working primarily in drawing and painting. He received his BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach in 2019, and an MFA in the same discipline from the University of Washington in 2023. His work explores themes of morality, myth, and the subconscious through a surreal cast of humorous creatures, apparitions, and personifications, often hinting at connections between art history, popular culture, aesthetic criticism and philosophy.
Pictured:
1. Dana Blume, photo courtesy of the artist
2. Dana Blume,
Fool's Goal, 2026
24" x 30"
Acrylic and oil on panel in white frame
