J Kelly Dunn
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1951, Bryan, Texas
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and the Arts
University of Michigan Museum
Detroit Museum of Art
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2002-08 Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005-07 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Hawaii Wood Guild Show, Hilo, HI
Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Philadelphia, PA
Big Island Woodturners Show, Hilo, HI
2004 Beneath the Bark: 25 Years of Wood Turning, Brigham University Museum of Art,
Provo, UT
2001-07 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2002 Hawaii Wood Guild Show, Kona, HI
Big Island Woodturners Show, Hilo, HI
Branching Out: Contemporary Wood Turning in 2002, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1996-99 Turned Wood - Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Multi-award winning wood lathe artist J. Kelly Dunn lives on the north end of the Big Island of Hawaii. Dunn specializes in wood grown on the Big Island and creates bowls, hollow vessels and art forms full time for art galleries and private collectors.
His father was a fighter pilot, artist and carpenter. His mother was an artist, musician and floral arranger. Both won many awards for their talents. His brother was an artist, musician and teacher and his sisters are active in the crafts field. With creative influences around him, Dunn built tree houses as a child, had his first poem published at age 16 and won his first award for sculpture at 18. In Colorado in the 1970’s, he designed and created art candles, garnering much recognition for his talents. He owned and operated a craft gallery during this time.
Moving to Waimea on the Big Island in the late 1970’s, Dunn studied woodturning with the late Larry Trombly. He also worked as a carpenter and began building furniture.
In Palo Alto, California in the mid 1980’s, he worked as foreman for designer Bob Waterman, building one-of-a-kind furniture and prototypical designs. He used that opportunity to seek out and study with some of the finest woodturners in the world.
A move back to Hawaii in the late 1980’s found Dunn and his family living in a house he had designed and built himself. He says of himself, "I have an intense curiosity as to the workings of the universe and the mechanical and spiritual wherewithal that makes it work. I always hope to grow in my art as the evolution of my talent allows me."
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Kelly Dunn turns on a modified One Way lathe. He turns to a thickness of approximately 3/16ths of an inch. His lathe will turn up to a 44-inch piece. The first decision of form begins with the raw log and a chainsaw. The second decision of form is made while the piece spins on the lathe and is dependent on the grain pattern and the wood. To create an aesthetically pleasing piece, he will decide what to expose and/or remove.
A Norfolk Pine bowl takes 2-3 weeks for the oiling process. A Norfolk Pine hollow vessel takes 4-6 weeks for the same process. The Norfolk Pine oiling process totally saturates the cellular structure with oils and resins. Plastic, in essence, fills the cells that once held water. The Norfolk Pine will sometimes have regularly spaced whitish specks and/or long lines radiating from the center of the piece. These are pine needles. The needles continue to grow outward from the center of the tree under the bark. The Pine will sometimes have small holes left by wood boring beetles, long since departed. A Norfolk Pine tree will sometimes have a natural dark center, most are solid amber. After falling the tree, all other color is derived from bacteria in the beginning process of decomposition known as spalting.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and the Arts
University of Michigan Museum
Detroit Museum of Art
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2002-08 Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005-07 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Hawaii Wood Guild Show, Hilo, HI
Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Philadelphia, PA
Big Island Woodturners Show, Hilo, HI
2004 Beneath the Bark: 25 Years of Wood Turning, Brigham University Museum of Art,
Provo, UT
2001-07 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2002 Hawaii Wood Guild Show, Kona, HI
Big Island Woodturners Show, Hilo, HI
Branching Out: Contemporary Wood Turning in 2002, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1996-99 Turned Wood - Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Multi-award winning wood lathe artist J. Kelly Dunn lives on the north end of the Big Island of Hawaii. Dunn specializes in wood grown on the Big Island and creates bowls, hollow vessels and art forms full time for art galleries and private collectors.
His father was a fighter pilot, artist and carpenter. His mother was an artist, musician and floral arranger. Both won many awards for their talents. His brother was an artist, musician and teacher and his sisters are active in the crafts field. With creative influences around him, Dunn built tree houses as a child, had his first poem published at age 16 and won his first award for sculpture at 18. In Colorado in the 1970’s, he designed and created art candles, garnering much recognition for his talents. He owned and operated a craft gallery during this time.
Moving to Waimea on the Big Island in the late 1970’s, Dunn studied woodturning with the late Larry Trombly. He also worked as a carpenter and began building furniture.
In Palo Alto, California in the mid 1980’s, he worked as foreman for designer Bob Waterman, building one-of-a-kind furniture and prototypical designs. He used that opportunity to seek out and study with some of the finest woodturners in the world.
A move back to Hawaii in the late 1980’s found Dunn and his family living in a house he had designed and built himself. He says of himself, "I have an intense curiosity as to the workings of the universe and the mechanical and spiritual wherewithal that makes it work. I always hope to grow in my art as the evolution of my talent allows me."
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Kelly Dunn turns on a modified One Way lathe. He turns to a thickness of approximately 3/16ths of an inch. His lathe will turn up to a 44-inch piece. The first decision of form begins with the raw log and a chainsaw. The second decision of form is made while the piece spins on the lathe and is dependent on the grain pattern and the wood. To create an aesthetically pleasing piece, he will decide what to expose and/or remove.
A Norfolk Pine bowl takes 2-3 weeks for the oiling process. A Norfolk Pine hollow vessel takes 4-6 weeks for the same process. The Norfolk Pine oiling process totally saturates the cellular structure with oils and resins. Plastic, in essence, fills the cells that once held water. The Norfolk Pine will sometimes have regularly spaced whitish specks and/or long lines radiating from the center of the piece. These are pine needles. The needles continue to grow outward from the center of the tree under the bark. The Pine will sometimes have small holes left by wood boring beetles, long since departed. A Norfolk Pine tree will sometimes have a natural dark center, most are solid amber. After falling the tree, all other color is derived from bacteria in the beginning process of decomposition known as spalting.