Kathy Dumesnil

Kathy Dumesnil approaches painting like a choreographer. A former modern dancer and fabrication textile artist, Dumesnil brings to her works an aesthetic sensibility that shows the influence of her foundational disciplines. Her non-literal, nature-inspired paintings are rhythmic with movement, stillness, and graceful gestural strokes. The lines of her paintings dance, not in lock-step, but in harmony, to form satisfying ensembles of layered, textured, delicately toned colors. She portrays her subject matter, largely drawn from her home landscape of South Louisiana, in lush pastels. The work, never tightly drawn, often appears as if emerging from a mist, frequently tinged with mystery, always presented with gentle respect. Dumesnil, who holds a B.F.A. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, exercises intuition as an important part of her artistic process. Playing with color, form, and composition is a process she trusts to lead to new and honest creations. “It is my deepest challenge and desire to listen to these intuitive prompts,” she says, “in order to allow the piece to evolve to fruition with its own voice.” Travel and the natural world inspire Kathy Dumesnil; the practice of journaling renews and keeps her on a path toward new discovery.