By Marilyn Delk
DCCA News
Cassie Dunmyer can’t remember a time when she was not interested in art; after growing up in Cicero, Ind., (about 25 miles north of Indianapolis), she earned a BFA in drawing at Ball State University, and continues to pursue that basic early passion while also, with her husband, homesteading and raising two sons. Her work now adorning the Anna Bier Gallery not only reflects that basic initial fascination, but also beautifully illustrates her response to the realization that our consumer-driven culture is a major contributor to the breakdown of commitment to preserving our natural resources.
A simple peaceful Amish country home is juxtaposed with delivery trucks busily going about their business in “Prime,” exposing how disconnected society has become from the source of those “things” we demand on a daily basis. In an entirely different image, “Derailed,” painted after the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and around the time of last year’s factory fire in Richmond, Ind., dramatically brilliant drops of fire fall from the sky, brightening a darkened landscape bathed in bright flames and evoking feelings of doom. Both of these disparate works with a similar theme are beautiful to look at and thought-provoking.
Self-explanatory titles describe several lovely photographic images: “Apple Blossoms,” “Queen Anne at Dusk, “Mammoth” (a huge sunflower), “Buff” (an adorably regal rooster), “Goldenrod. “Broccoli to Seed” (displaying delicate yellow blossoms), “Oyster Mushrooms,” and “Clover,” all edible subjects to some degree. The artist, who has worked as a professional photographer since 2017, says the lovely clover blossom is a great treat for her chickens.
Several pieces on display exemplify the theme of returning to an old normal after finding new practices to be unsustainable, thus making it necessary to once again learn to care for ourselves and our culture. In a striking piece, “Dissent,” a murmuration of starlings fills a burnished sky with one lonely bird drifting off in a different direction, breaking away from the chaos of the norm. The same ethic is displayed in “The Last Little House on the Prairie,” in which a series of perfectly similar-appearing streets with perfectly similar-appearing houses surround one unique home surrounded by trees, shrubs, and flowers.
An adoptee, Cassie first met her birth family while in college, leading to a series of work with the theme “Nature vs. Nurture.” As part of this venture, she started exploring the use of fungi as a symbol of growing from past experience, a concept displayed in unique self-portraits “Germination” and “Symbiotic.” A later piece featuring fungi, “Joy Division,” the first Cassie created when transitioning from her wedding photographer business back to fine art, becamemore complex over time. Originally, all the fungus was meant to grow from the same log, symbolizing the collective experience and growth gleaned from living through a pandemic; however, as events unfolded and differing beliefs and political views began to shatter the unity of society, Cassie broke the composition into opposing sides, adding shards of glass signifying society’s polarization.
Complexity deepens the significance of several paintings on display; what appears to be a simple pastoral scene oftencontains warnings of the danger that lies beneath that first impression. Although “Squeaky Clean” at first appears to illustrate a sweet, simple image—a fawn drinking water from a colorful pool—a second look reveals that the water emanating from the pipes feeding the pool probably contains various colorful toxins, driving one to wonder what will become of the vulnerable young deer. “To A Flame” sends a similar message; a beautiful scene of a natural setting at sunset, with moths in the center being attracted to those things which are ultimately destroying the insects’ habitat.
Many more fascinating artworks join the bounty described above now on display at the Anna Bier Gallery, located within Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall; these works by Cassie Dunmyer can be viewed Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The exhibit will remain open through February 24, when a closing reception will be held starting at 5:30 p.m., prior to Darke County Center for the Arts presentation of a performance by Stray Cats-founding member Lee Rocker.
