Misunderstood

Donna Coleman (1973 - )

charcoal on paper

2020

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Downing Street

    Donna Coleman’s work explores emotional states through expressionist drawing. She uses the effects of distortion, abstraction and subtraction to create portraits which depict the raw intensity of distress, anxiety, dissociation and depersonalisation. As explained by the artist, this drawing is part of ‘a body of work that explores how social media affects people’s wellbeing; how it’s supposed to be about connecting people but sometimes it actually disconnects people.’

    Highlighting the importance of process and technique in her practice, Coleman has stated: ‘I draw using ballpoint pens, Posca pens, felt tip pens, graphite, and sometimes paint, but as a drawing medium. It’s important to me that the work is as much about drawing as the theme…’

  • About the artist
    Having started studies in textile design, Donna Coleman set her practice aside due to her mental health, but reconnected with painting around 2010 as a means to express her experienced with depression. With the support of Inkwell Arts in Leeds, her work was published online with the charity Outside In, leading to display opportunities with Arts and Minds, another Leeds-based network that promotes mental wellbeing through creativity. In 2013, she was selected for the award-winning mentoring project ‘Place & Memory’, part of Love Arts Leeds Festival. Her first solo exhibition ‘The Screen Will Not Fill The Void’ opens at Basement Arts Project, Leeds (June 2021), accompanied by a publication. Her work has been included in group shows at The Light Gallery, Leeds (2013); Leeds Art Gallery (2015); PS Mirabel Gallery, Manchester (2016); Air Gallery, Manchester (2017, 2018); and Open Source Arts, Leeds (2019). She was on the selection panel for The Left Bank Leeds Art Prize in 2019.
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    Subjects
    Materials & Techniques
    paper (as artists material), charcoal, drawing (Art object type)
  • Details
    Artist
    Donna Coleman (1973 - )
    Title
    Misunderstood
    Date
    2020
    Medium
    charcoal on paper
    Dimensions
    height: 64 cm; width: 46.5 cm; depth: 3.8 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from the artist March 2021, through the Art XUK project 2020-21
    Provenance
    The artist; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 18 March 2021
    GAC number
    18961