Sean-William Dawson is a professional artist and arts educator with more than 25 years experience in both fields. In that time he has accelerated at combining his innovative art style, technique and understanding into a language that fluidly translates easily to education formats. Sean can also be found slamming around the punk rock scene and has been collaborating with artists within that scene for several decades.
"I believe that art is the most universal language that also transcends time. I also believe art’s function in the world is to record time and place and the various social climates it’s within, so society may learn and grow as we move forward. It is the job of the artist to make this come to fruition and present their perception to the public to help create an open discussion platform. For 25 years I’ve been creating mixed media works focused on pop culture and then utilizing found objects (reclaimed bedsheets, wallpaper, discarded wood etc) and images from sources meant for the masses (ie: school textbooks, magazines, movies, etc) to achieve this.
Growing up in the 1980s-1990s I was drawn to (and participated in) the punk/skateboard culture, primarily because of its mindset, ethics and it’s DIY approach to the arts. As a result of this influence, I built a career working outside of the traditional commercial and public art gallery system, establishing myself as an inventive artist and arts educator. He is a firm believer that in his role as an arts instructor, the process of creating is vastly more important than the final product. It is from this alternative “punk” spirit from which this exhibition concept is born.
Over the last quarter century, I have maintained a consistent and engaging practice mining the richness and influence (good and bad) of pop culture, appropriating images and reclaimed materials from this source. Experimenting with a wide range of media (drawings, prints, paintings and cast relief reproductions) I attempt to achieve my core belief that art’s function is to represent it’s time and place in which it is created within".
