DORA DUAN UNSETTLED
DORA DUAN
The series of Unsettled provides us an opportunity to appreciate Dora Duan’s remarkable work. In my own work, I feel a need to uncover history, memories, and ways to share them with others. When I first experienced Duan’s work, I immediately felt a connection. The images of places that may have been visited long time ago offer many avenues for our minds to wander and find calm at the same time. In many of Duan’s images, I want to view them with someone else so that we can discuss them together and find a common ground of understanding.
Photography in all forms is one of the Art Department’s fundamental areas of educating artists. Having exceptional exhibitions of photography in our galleries helps to generate meaningful discussions and lifelong learning about the art of photography. The University Art Gallery’s programing helps to support our faculty’s teaching. It is through faculty recommendations that many exhibitions come to our galleries. This exhibition was recommended by my colleague Dr. Staci Gem Scheiwiller. She had the follow to say about Duan’s work:
“I first saw Duan’s work in Santa Clara in 2021. I was captivated by her photographs’ poetic stillness and haunting loneliness. In some photographs that feature only an object, such as a chair, the object is evocative of a trace, indexing the person who should be there. In this way, Duan’s work seems ghostly, even when the human figure is present and living. One is alone with one’s thoughts and memories, which create and produce one’s reality—this reality of the memory realm encapsulates the person in an environment that appears surreal. In other words, Duan has the ability to turn memories, dreams, and thoughts inside out into tangible scenes and tableaux in front of the camera lens.”
I would like to express my gratitude to the many colleagues who have been instrumental in presenting this exhibition, and to Dora Duan for the opportunity to showcase her amazing work, Dr. Staci Gem Scheiwiller for recommending Duan’s exhibition, Brad Peatross of the School of the Arts, California State University Stanislaus for the catalog design and Stan State Print Shop for the printing this catalog. I would also like to extend many thanks to the Instructionally Related Activates Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue. Their support is greatly appreciated.
Dean De Cocker, Director, University Art Gallery California State University, Stanislaus
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Unsettled”
Memories are collective moments, which sometimes remain with us as a shadow, even though they are intangible. Over the past few years, I have been thinking about imperfection and unworthiness. This body of work investigates some uneasy or vulnerable moments in my earlier life as a way of returning to some episodes that I want to understand further.
My intention is to convey the unremarkable yet memorable moments that have influenced how I feel and behave today. The process of creating this series of narrative portraits allows me to see my presence as other viewers, and understand the underlying aspects of myself. The focus is on the psychological response from myself to the environment. Each image reveals a fleeting moment of an intimate experience, or a metaphorical exploration of the relationship between inner self and external experience.
While I was working on these images, COVID-19 pandemic struck me during the last quarter of this project. The disruption of routines and inaccessibility of resources challenged me in many ways, though the constraints prompted me to explore new opportunities to describe the deep feeling from the impacts of my earlier life and current. The emphasis of this series is not only on expressing my personal voice, but also helping me to contemplate these memories of solitude and isolation from my life.
I have visited many places around San Francisco and the Bay Area to carefully choose the locations which resonate with me and those memories. I also explored choices of the final presentations, including archival pigment print to make the intangible tangible, as well as alternative process of toned Cyanotype on a very thin paper to reflect the concept of imperfection and fragility. As a whole, working on this project has been a process of meditation and self-revealing, which has given me a better understanding of myself and transformed me as a person.
Binoculars, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2022
Left Blooming Alone, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2021
Away, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2024
Staring at the Mirror, Archival Pigment Print, 30” x 20”, 2024
Not There, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2020
The Rock, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2020
Splendor, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2022
Flying, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2018
Canopy, Archival Pigment Print, 27” x 40”, 2019
Left Out, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2018
Passage of Time, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2019
The Last Thing to Move, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2018
If I Were A Leaf, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2022
Missed, Archival Pigment Print, 30” x 20”, 2023
Fire Threat, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2020
In The Woods, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2022
This page: Vacancy, Archival Pigment Print, 20” x 30”, 2020
Previous spread: Cold Summer, Archival Pigment Print, 60” x 80”, 2023
BIO
Dora Duan is a San Francisco Bay Area-based fine art photographer. Her passion for storytelling is evident in her work. With a strong emphasis on the emotional content, Duan creates photographs that explore identity and personal experience on a psychological level. Her work evokes inner connections with viewers through minimal visual elements and aesthetic aspects.
Duan started her career in California as a software engineer. During the time she worked in San Francisco, her office was across the street from the Academy of Art University campus; she often dreamed to take an adventure in art school, as her passion for photography went back to her childhood. Duan started a photography studio in 2012, and then became a full-time fine art photographer, she received an MFA from Academy of Art University in 2020.
Duan’s work has been selected in many domestic and international exhibitions and publications. Recently her work was shown at Soho Photo Gallery New York, NY, Los Angeles Center of Photography, CA, as well as at a number of other galleries in the past, including Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA, Chung24 Gallery, CA, Dallas Center for Photography, TX and A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, TX, etc. Her award recognition includes The 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers with “Honorable Mention” in Fine Art category 2023, American Photographic Artists (APA) National 2020 3rd Place, APA LA 2021 “Off The Clock” Award, nominations for 2020 Fine Art Photography Awards, and 2018 International Color Awards, etc.
DORA DUAN CV
EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Living Image - 2023/2024, The Halide Project, Philadelphia. Juried by Ann Jastrab. March 2nd - April 14. 2023 International Alternative Processes 2023 exhibition, Soho Photo Gallery New York, juried by Elizabeth Avedon, Nov. 15th - Dec. 2nd.
Personal Territory: LACP Annual Members Exhibition 2023, Las Angeles Center of Photography, Sept. 14, 2023
Art Fluent INNER SENSE online exhibition, 09/2023, https://art-fluent.com/gallery/inner-sense/ Dallas Center for Photography’s exhibition Hold Up Half the Sky, juried by Aline Smithson. Jun 10- July 1, 2023, Dallas TX.
Photography group show at Pacific Art League, juried by Andrew Wegst, first prize. Mar. 3-28th, Palo Alto, CA.
PhotoPlace - Portrait Self and Others gallery exhibition. Dec29 2022- Jan20, 2023, juried by Aline Smithson
2022 The 6th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, juried by Adam Finkelston, J. Jason Lazarus, Chris McCaw, and The Image Flow. Oct. 7-Dec. 21, 2022
Alternative group exhibition at Chung24 gallery July12- Aug. 2022, San Fransisco, CA.
Color Space online exhibition at Black Box gallery, June-July, 2022.
PhotoPlace Gallery exhibition - Dreams and Imaginings, April 28th- May 27th, 2022, juried by Susan Burnstine https: photoplacegallery.com/online-juried-shows/dreams-and-imaginings/gallery/exhibition-gallery
2021 Online Group exhibition - 17th Julia Margaret Cameron Award - Fine Art/Single https://www.thegalaawards.com/17thjmca-non-pro-documentary-reportage-to-fine-art
Solo Exhibition at Triton Museum of Art, Sept. 18th - Jan 16th, 2022, https://www.tritonmuseum.org/on-view
Online Group Exhibition - Toy Stories September 202
https://www.analogforevermagazine.com/online-exhibitions/toy-stories-september-2021
2021 CPA Members’ Juried Exhibition Juror: Susan Burnstine, Merit Awards. (Apr. 10, 2021 - May 9 2021)
https://photography.org/event/2021-members-juried-exhibition/
A Smith Gallery Open theme | unbound group exhibition, director’s award. (July 31- August 28, 2021)
The Image Flow’s 5th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, juried by Niniane Kelley, Brian Taylor and Ed Carey. Apr. 2021- May 2021
Analog Forever, Winner of “A Certain Kind of Blue”, online exhibition, Mar. 2021
2020 PX3 PRIX Paris State of The World finalist, https://px3.fr/winners/curator/2020/1-91550-20/ online exhibition
2019 A 2D Art Competition & Exhibition, Best in Show in Photography. Triton Museum of Art, Nov. 9th 2019 - Jan. 26th, 2020 22nd Annual APA SF Something Personal exhibition, 2nd place.
https://sf.apanational.org/events/entry/view-the-2019-apa-sf-something-personal-exhibition-online-gallery/
Unique: Alternative Processes 2019, Nov. 8th, 2019 - Jan. 5th 2020. A Smith Gallery. Color Exhibition, SE Center for Photography, Aug. 2nd -31th, 2019.
Spring Show 2019, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 94124. May-June 2019
Annual Pacific Art League Exhibition, 3rd Place in Photography, March 2019
2018 Fictional Narrative Exhibition, PhotoPlace Gallery, Dec. 6th, 2018 - Jan. 5th, 2019, https://photoplacegallery.com/online-juried-shows/fictional-narrative/)
Conceptual Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens - Greece. Nov. 16th - 28.
Runner-up Creative Quarterly 53 (January 2019, as well as online gallery January 2019: https://cqjournal.com/gallery/53/duan-dora-0491
Across the Bridge 668 Sutter St. San Francisco, Aug. 9th - 30th, 2018
Memory of Place, SE Center for Photography, July 6th - 28th, 2018
2018 Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 94124. May-June 2018
Black Box Gallery. 811 East Burnside St. #212 Portland, Oregon 97214, Mar. 1-20.
2017 Annual Pacific Art League Exhibition, Honorable Mention in Photography, Nov. 3-23
Spring Show 2017, Director’s Choice. Atelier Gallery, Academy of Art University. Fine Art Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece. 26 May – 8 June 2017
Spring Show 2017. Director’s Choice, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 94124. May-June 2017
AWARDS
2023 16th Annual International Color Awards: Nominee in Fine Art | “Winter Dance” and “Seen” The 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers with “Honorable Mention” in Fine Art category.
2022 APA SF Somthing Personal awards 2022 Top 100 official selection
https://sf.apanational.org/exhibits-contests/gallery/2022-something-personal-winners/category_6/
2022 Minimalism Annual Awards winner: featured Minimalist Artist
https://minimalismmag.com/2023/03/22/minimalist-photography-awards-annual-book-2022/ 2021 Creative Quarterly Top 100 artworks of 2021, https://www.cqjournal.com/annuals/100-best-2021
BIFA (Budapest International Foto Awards) Silver Winner in Fine Art
Nomineed in the 7th Fine Art Photography Awards in Professional category. Winner of “Artist Of The Month” Feb 2021 of artjob.com
2020 IPA, Honorable Mention, Non-Pro Fine Art Portrait,https://www.photoawards.com/winner/zoom.php?eid=8-185635-20
APA National Awards winner, Conceptual/Altered 3rd place https://apanational.org/awards/gallery/2020-apa-awards-gallery/all/ 9th Annual APA LA “Off The Clock” award winner.
Minimalist Photography Awards 2019, Conceptual Category, “Memories” was selected as honorable mention. Fine Art Photo Awards Nominee, 5th FAPA, London, Fine Art Professional in Conceptual category
2018 Fine Art Photo Awards Nominee, 4th FAPA, London, Fine Art Professional in Fine Art category https://fineartphotoawards.com/winners-gallery/fapa-2017-2018/professional/fine-art/hm/5587
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STANISLAUS
Dr. Susan E. Borrego, President
Dr. Richard Ogle, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF ART
Martin Azevedo, Associate Professor, Chair
Dean De Cocker, Professor
James Deitz, Lecturer
Daniel Edwards, Associate Professor
Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor
Dr. Alice Heeren, Assistant Professor
Chad Hunter, Lecturer
Dr. Carmen Robbin, Professor
Ellen Roehne, Lecturer
Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Associate Professor
Susan Stephenson, Associate Professor
Jake Weigel, Associate Professor
Mirabel Wigon, Assistant Professor
Alex Quinones Instructional Tech II
Matt Hayes, Equipment Technician II
UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES
Dean De Cocker, Director
Kory Twaddle, Gallery Assistant
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Brad Peatross, Graphic Specialist II
Dora Duan: Unsettled
March 27–May 1, 2024 | University Art Gallery, California State University, Stanislaus
200 copies printed. Copyright © 2024 California State University, Stanislaus • ISBN 978-1-940753-84-3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. This exhibition and catalog have been funded by Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus.
