October 4-27 ~

Mike Duggins, John D. Gall and Delurk's own, Dane Walters

Dane Walters - "Oracles"

Dane is a native of Forsyth County, who is a keen observer of the world around him. When painting, he works primarily in oil and acrylic, creating images only found in the imagination. This solo effort consists of captivating, realistically rendered atmospheric paintings which are rich explorations of the fragile, gentle and often vulnerable nature that hides beneath the outer veneer we wear as we navigate work, school, social and personal relationships. 

Dane also collaborates with fellow Delurk artist, Chris Powers, on a piece revealing a colorful and expressionistic style reflecting the work of both artists.

Mike Duggins - "Grotesques"

Mike's work incorporates elements of antique signage, carnival art and freak show banners. Cartoons and popular imagery from the 1920s and '30s, laced with modern punk and/or transgressive cultural items also appear.

John D. Gall - "Nonsense and Fantasy" 

Delightful narrative images in a wide range of traditional printmaking techniques, make this body of work a pleasure to ponder. With decades of dedication to his craft, John D. Gall's work is not only technical tour de force it is ripe with pithy observations about the condition of human kind in the modern world.

I strive to tell stories with my art, whether indirectly as metaphors or directly as narratives.  Even a still life can tell a story.  My subjects may be dreamed, imagined, or experienced, as an autobiographical interpretation, but those invented from my imagination are the most precious to me.  Any person, place, time or thing can be a source for inspiration allowing freedom and diversity of subject matter.  Staying focused is handled by working in series, pursuing an idea until it has been explored and pushed to the limits of my interest.  I do allow myself to return to a series if so led.  It is difficult to say how many different images may come from a basic “idea.”

I admire drawing, and my primary creative medium is printmaking, with the majority of my prints being intaglio (etching). I relate to the European tradition of etching, emphasizing line and technique.  Many of my mentors:  Rembrandt, Goya, Whistler, and Picasso all excelled as draftsmen and etchers.  The love of a strong graphic image and the craft to produce it can be clearly seen in their prints.  I would like to think I am proceeding in the same direction.  I keep myself fresh and introduce variety by also working in other mediums in addition to printmaking. The most common of these is mixed media on paper and oil painting.  My basic artistic signature remains the same.

Coming from a math and science background, I am fascinated by the aesthetic beauty of mathematical equations, graphs and symbols.  This has led me to the most complex equation of all: the “Human equation,” which continues to be an ongoing series for me.  In an almost surreal way I combine and incorporate human figures with these symbols in a new, fabricated "world" of “Knowledge Seekers”. The works are usually in an unexplained space where different scales and perspectives exist, truly a fantasy world. The symbols represent metaphors for various conditions of knowledge and depict ways these Knowledge Seekers use (or fail to use) their knowledge. This direction in my art has expanded to include not only the “Human” equation, but also botanical and biological subjects, which almost always include symbols and some sort of scientific data.  Other noteworthy series include:  “Souls” (whimsical predicaments of human souls) and “Tuscany” (interpretations from travels in Italy).

As I am constantly expanding the “box” in which my imagination “plays,” I have also started creating images that I call “Nonsense” works.  I find myself drifting more into the realm of fantasy and admire the freedom and imagination that surrounds the Ex Libris artists and their traditions.  The Nonsense images evoke a similar freedom to me, allowing creation without restriction of content, simply going where my imagination leads me as I work on this newer series.