Dan Brown Hozjan | Dwellings

Dan Brown Hozjan
Dwellings

The Edge Gallery, November 1 - 30, 2019

The series Dwellings grew out of an affinity for old, rough-hewn, backwoods cabins. Looking at these structures, with their off-kilter construction and textured log exteriors, I see them as existing visually as an in-between state between the “human” and “natural” worlds. Even more, as these structures decay and their right angles fall apart, this shift along the spectrum of “human” and “nature” becomes more apparent. In the end these structures will return completely to the wild, leaving little trace that they ever existed.

The second source of inspiration for this series was historical scientific illustration: I am drawn to the visual language in field guides and textbooks of natural science, but see the natural world as being deeper and richer than science can ever hope to describe. By juxtaposing biological and geological imagery with renderings of these human structures I aim to create a dream-space subverting the rigidity of scientific understanding.

The canon of Canadian and Yukon artwork features many depictions of bush cabins- there is a draw to the romantic notion of wilderness living, and an appreciation for imperfect, hand-built structures in our age of increasing mechanization. I always appreciate these artworks but am interested in exploring new connections between what is considered human and what is considered natural. The series Dwellings imagines dream-like relationships between human structures and the world of nature, drawing from both the visual language of scientific illustration and the genre of cabin-landscape depictions.

DAN BROWN HOZJAN
Dan Brown Hozjan was born in Okotoks, Alberta. He first came to Dawson City, Yukon to attend the Yukon School of Visual Arts and subsequently fell in love with the community. After finishing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Emily Carr University he moved back to Dawson and currently maintains his art practice from an off-grid cabin on the west side of the Yukon River. His work explores the connections between human imagination and the natural world.

Website:
dbhozjan.com

Past Exhibitions