How — you might wonder — did artist Roz Dimon come to launch a show called “My Affair with Abraham Lincoln”? If you were driving up to her Shelter Island home, surrounded by the beautiful natural setting of Mashomack Preserve, you’d never guess that inside is a “mad painter.” But there she is in her art studio experimenting with the most cutting edge computer technology.
A pioneer in digital painting, she’ll share her techniques in person at the next Friday Night Dialogues at the Shelter Island Public Library. She’ll be surrounded by her Abraham Lincoln works, which were inspired by the January 6 confrontation at the nation’s Capitol that caused her to ask, “What would Abe think?” Using her digital paint brush and mixed media she made 18 drawings of Abraham Lincoln’s face, each one representing his reaction to an event in the headlines.
The series — “My Affair with Abraham Lincoln” — is on exhibit in the library’s gallery. The talk takes place on Friday, July 30 at 7 PM under the tent on the library’s back lawn (or in the Community Room in case of inclement weather).
An artist all her life
An artist all her life, Roz says she could draw “before she could talk” and she gives credit to her grandmothers for passing down that skill. Her earliest work was mostly conventional oil on canvas but her inventive spirit showed up right out of art school. As she was painting a portrait series, she decided to record the conversations with those who were sitting for her. This led to her first foray into electronic art when she ran the audio conversations with the portraits in her first exhibit named “Talking Heads.”
One can hear a tiny hint of an accent from her childhood years in Atlanta and the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art. In 1981, she jumped into her Volkswagen and drove straight to New York City to pursue her creative ideas at the computer arts division of the School for Visual Arts. She honed her digital skills as art director at The Wall Street Journal and other corporations, and participated in digital fine art exhibits when the medium was in its infancy.
As her style progressed, she developed what she calls DIMONscapes, a process of layering multiple images to create an abstract and interactive work. These layers can be electronically peeled away to reveal each of the elements that tell the story of her subject. An example of this technique is on exhibit at the Shelter Island Historical Center titled “Havens House.” It’s coded so that the viewer can uncover each layer and there is audio to enhance the experience. Learn more about the artist on her website, rozdimon.com.
During the pandemic, Roz became an active member of Techspressionism, a group of digital artists who share ideas and promote their medium through a website, techspressionism.com. They have recorded a series of interviews in which they discuss electronic painting, available on Youtube.
Roz said she hopes to take her Abe Lincoln series on tour at nonprofit venues. The library is fortunate to be among the first to view these works with the artist as our guide. Join this very special Friday Night Dialogues on July 30 at 7 PM under the tent on the library’s back lawn.
To sign up, use the online form at least 30 minutes before the program start time. The program is free, but donations are appreciated.