- Delna Dastur
- Spring 2024
- Tuesday
- April 9, 2024
- 1:00 pm
- — 4:30 pm
- 8 Session
- , $295.00
EDUCATION
M.F.A – Painting, The American University, Washington DC, Full Scholarship
B.A. – Art History, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, Full Scholarship
B.A. – English major, French minor, University of Bombay, India
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022 – Gallery Representation, Atrium Gallery, Charleston, SC
2022 – Guest lecturer at St. Alban’s School Washington DC
2022 – Guest lecturer at Western Michigan State University
2021 – Virginia Center for the Creative Arts – Residency, Amherst, VA
2020 – Juror, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington DC
2006 – Present, Faculty – Smithsonian Associates , Washington DC
2002 – Present, Faculty – The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2018 – Curator, Washington Abstract Artist Group Exhibition, Friendship Heights, MD
2017 – Virginia Center for the Creative Arts – Residency, Amherst, VA
2016 – Visiting Faculty, Mumbai International School, Mumbai, India
2009 – Juror, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington DC
2008 – Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai, India, invited lecturer on Appreciating Abstract Art
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 – Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, Arlington, VA
2022 – District Arts, Frederick, Md
2022 – St. Alban’s School, Washington DC
2011 – Esperanza Education Fund Exhibit, Washington DC
2010 – Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi, India
2005 – Greater Reston Art Center, Reston, VA
2005 – The Pierce School, Washington DC
2003 – Heritage India Gallery, Washington D.C
2002 – Growth, The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
2000 – The Art League, Alexandria, VA
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019 – Intention, Invention, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
2011 – Gallery Plan b, Washington DC
2009 – Capital One, The Corporate Art Program, McLean, VA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 – Collector’s Night Gala, Washington Project for the Arts
2023 – Not Strictly Painting, Tim Brown, Director, Curator, IA&A at Hillyer, McLean Project for the Arts
2023 – My Personal Best, Women’s Caucus for Art of Greater Washington DC, (WCADC), Washington DC
2023 – Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2022 – Surface, National Exhibition, The d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA
2022 – Patron Show, The Art League, Alexandria, VA, Faculty Award
2022 – Scene, National Exhibition, The d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA
2022 – Flourish, National Exhibition, The d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA
2022 – Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2021 – Optimism, The Atheneum, Alexandria, VA
2021 – Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition, The Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center, Hampton, VA, Juror’s Award
2021 – Not Strictly Painting, Virginia Treanor, Curator, National Museum of Women in the Arts, McLean Project
for the Arts
2021 – Artist Invitational, Friendship Heights Community Center Art Gallery, Md
2021 – Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2021 – Contemporary Indian Art, Gallery Art Motif 25 th Anniversary Exhibit, New Delhi, India
2021 – Garden Party, Latela Curatorial, Washington DC
2020 – Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2020 – Riverfront, Kristen Hileman, Curator, Delaware Contemporary Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
2020 – By the People, Monochrome Collective, Washington DC
2020 – The Human Condition, The Atheneum, Alexandria, VA
2019 – Petite December, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2019 – ‘Board’ Out Of Our Minds, The Atheneum, Alexandria, VA
2019 – Artist’s Choice, Foundry Gallery, Washington DC
2019 – Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2019 – Habitat, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2019 – Art on the Vine, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2018 – Too Much of Too Much, Laura Roulet, curator, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
2018 – Faculty Exhibition, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2017 – Summerford Legacy Exhibition, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC
2017 – Alchemical Vessels Exhibition, Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, Washington DC
2017 – Strictly Painting 11, Anne Reeve, Curator, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
PRESS
2023 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Cross Pollination at Fred Schnider Gallery by Mark Jenkins
2021 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Not Strictly Painting by Mark Jenkins, McLean Project for
the Arts
2019 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Habitat, by Mark Jenkins, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2019 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Intention/Invention, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
2018 – Studio Visit, volume forty-one, The Open Studio Press, A Juried Selection of International Visual Artists,
Lisa Crossman, Curator, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA
2018 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Too Much of Too Much curated by Laura Roulet
2014 – In the Galleries, The Washington Post review of Influence and Inspiration, The Atheneum, Alexandria, VA
2012 – Fezana Journal Transformed by Art
2010 – SPAN Magazine, American Embassy in Delhi, Feature article, Celebrating Balance with Indian American Artist
Delna Dastur, by Erica Lee Nelson
2010 – Time Out Delhi, Review, Fair and Square by Jane Mikkelson
Critic’s Choice – Delna Dastur at Gallery Art Motif, Delhi
2010 – Parsiana, Art Amalgam,
COLLECTIONS
State Bank of India, New York, NY
Hilton Hotel Worldwide Headquarters, VA Astra Zeneca, Wilmington, DE PRTM, Washington DC
Private collections in the United States, London, Hong Kong and India
Over the years as I developed as an artist, I came to the realization that the process of making a piece of art intrigues me as much as its subject matter. I am never satisfied with using one medium exclusively and always attempt to combine several.
I like the work to be complex, to be multi-layered. I usually begin by carefully choosing a paint color, keeping it liquid enough to be poured and manipulated over the surface of the canvas. This is followed by stamping. I use wooden textile blocks from India in combination with rubber stamps. Next comes the building up of textures. I rake through gels, pastes and clear gessoes using hardware implements and create patterns with templates.
Random strong lines drawn emphatically at the start of a piece guide the direction the drawing will take, and I permit myself to follow their lead, readily yielding any preconceived notion I may have had. I allow the subject matter to navigate itself, to rise from the medley of emerging shapes. As the images reveal themselves I layer them one upon the other, paying great attention to minute detail and the creation of transparencies, guiding the organic growth of the painting with great care. I want there to be a sense of elusiveness, of the possibility of different ways of interpretation. Intuition is my favorite tool and I embrace it mightily.
In the class that I teach, Abstract Art – New and Creative Approaches, I begin by introducing the students to a different contemporary artist each week in order to investigate various ways abstract art can be created. Since I am interested in process and the creation of multi-layered work, we cover a range of materials and techniques. We explore the many ways charcoal, pastel, ink and paint can be manipulated. I also emphasize the importance of creating transparencies, interesting marks and distinctive compositions. Demonstrations help clarify the technique to be learnt each week.
I’m always expanding on the class, experimenting in my studio with various materials that I can then introduce to the students.
