Meet Dawn Conry | Collage & Mixed Media Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dawn Conry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawn, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
” I will, reason, I will will, and I will act; but guide Thou, my reason, will, and activity, to the right thing to do.” -Paramahansa Yogananda

More a request than affirmation. This prayer reminds me that I am in control of myself, I can think for myself, and I can do many things. The rub is, I don’t always make the best decisions. So cultivating a relationship with God/Universe/Universal Bliss, – how ever one defines this concept – I learn to make healthy decisions. I can still my thoughts so that I am able to hear the voice inside me.

I have ignored the inner voice of wisdom and have been given a healthy education from the school of hard knocks. I have had so much fear guiding my actions through this life. When I center myself, I can overcome the fear. I can listen to my inner dialogue and recognize that this was the guiding compass I should use to navigate the world.

The prayer reminds me that I have free will. I am not trapped in a situation. I can take the actions needed to change. But I can only really change myself; so learn to take divine advice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My creative journey started in community theatre, I chose to attend community college in Phoenix, AZ. I wanted exposure to a different mindset than the one I had always known. I still believe it’s one of the most important decisions I have ever made

I became interested in prop design early on. A prop is any object that an actor touches and uses on stage. Most of these items are going to be commonplace, dishes, a telephone, a book. These are necessary things, but then you get a script that calls for a monster, 8 dead headless pigeons, a tray of 18th century sex toys, or a talking animal. These are the projects that I really enjoyed. Because most of the world’s theatre productions are run on a very tight budget, I had to become creative. I needed to transform commonplace objects into something unusual. I call it my, ” I can totally change this into a dead animal.” mindset. The years I spent with this headspace made my transition to collage and mix media virtually seamless.

I have no rigid process for my work. I look for connection in an unrelated image, color, shape, line or pattern. Sometimes an image will find it’s mate immediately, other times an image can take months to find its story. I enjoy the challenge to create within the boundaries of the materials at hand. Using scissors, scalpel, glue, ink, and acrylics to transform print images on paper or textile The materials are a means of time travel or adventure, in the hunt for the perfect material, anything is possible.

Making art has never been easy for me. I had my physical challenges, I wear a prosthetic leg and both hands have defects, all stemming from my Father’s exposure to Agent Orange. I am neurodivergent. I manage within a major depressive and anxiety disorder. I belong to the GEN X population. We were expected to try harder until the goal was reached. We didn’t possess the concept that things can be normalized in society. I became comfortable living within the fringe. This is completely OK, the others here are great.

I have learned that our lives are not meant to progress in a limier timeline. Letting go of that narrative was key to my ability to continue as an artist. I realize that I am halfway through my life and it might be really easy to look back at my choices. But life still scares the shit out of me. What I have now is experience, because my timeline has had it’s peaks, valleys, and cycles. The game of life has rules that need to be maneuvered.

I overcame challenges by making space for my work. Show up to the work knowing that it will also have it’s peaks, valleys, and cycles. Give the work the priority it needs. Forgive yourself if you fall short, at the end of the day we are only struggling against ourselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Whatever we decide to do our day will need to start with coffee drinks at Copper Star Coffee.

I would take my friend to The Heard Museum and The Phoenix Art Museum we would take the lightrail. We would spend time riding to Tempe and go to the Tempe Town Lake park. Stray Cat Theatre is not on the lightrail. But it’s part of Tempe Center for the Arts,that overlooks water from town lake. a show by Stray Cat should not be missed.

As the trip progresses we can stay local. I would insist they join me in a plant crawl. We would start out at the Plant Stand of Arizona, Dig it Gardens, and Junglebox. We would stop at La Santisima to eat anything that has Mole sauce. have a horchata with dinner, and a margarita afterwards. Dessert will be at Urban Cookies Bakeshop.

We could shop at Fantasia Crystals, Curious Nature, Changing Hands Bookstore. Have a popsicle at Pop Stand. We could shop at the Biltmore Fashion Park for a cute upscale mall experience then see a movie across the street at AMC Esplanade. Seventh Avenue in the Melrose district has local boutique stores and eats. I would recommend eating at Short Leash Hotdogs, they have chicken and vegetarian options.

If we were in an active mood, we will bike the Sonoran Bike Path.

Whatever else we decided to do, I would make sure that we were at the Rooftop bar at Clarendon Hotel at sunset.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The foundation of any artistic success would be my Theatre education by Dr Geoffrey Eroe along with fellow student and mentor Kris Shepherd.. We were trained as an ensemble. We were expected to have a working knowledge of all aspects of theatre production. for one show I might be on stage and the next I was operating the lightboard. I was made aware of all the hard work that went into one production. I learned that every person involved in a production held a piece of the puzzle. Without all the working pieces the production would fail. Kris helped me discover my talents for prop design, the piece I would hold for many years.

This outlook has helped my perspective in everything I have worked on, parenting, theatre, ICU nursing, and collage. To create we are reliant on collaboration with others and that for our work to be good, their work needs to be good. Look at the supply chain issues in the Long Beach and LA harbors; people were not able to do their jobs and we are in a mess.

Support of my bewildered extended family and like minded immediate family. My family of choice, some I have known for more than half of my life. I would be nothing without these people who believe and support me.

Instagram: @astral_bears_collage

Image Credits
headshot credit to Danny Smitherman all others’ are me