Haven Gallery | 7/16-8/14 | Northport, NY

Bleeding Hearts

Lara Dann explores the semi-sweetness of love and heartbreak in her otherworldly portraits

By Erin E. Rand

After getting a degree in graphic design, Lara Dann took a hard turn and built a career in massage therapy. But when she had children, she decided to return to art. “I would create these tiny paintings at the kitchen table while cooking dinner and then sell them on eBay,” she remembers. They gained traction, and she soon went from selling her work online to showing in galleries.

Dann’s upcoming exhibition at Haven Gallery, titled Semi-Sweet, explores the space between love and heartbreak. “On the surface, my attempt is to organize this concept in a contemporary way, with hints of beauty, design and feminine power, while it’s deeper meaning is a connection of life and death,” she says. Milk and Honey, acrylic on birch wood, 36 x 24"

Erica Berkowitz, owner and curator of Haven Gallery, says of Dann’s work, “Beauty and strength paired with delicate sensibilities are demonstrated through her use of color and space. These dualities are further strengthened with her ubiquitous theme of flower motifs, ultimately defining her sitters as allegories of nature herself.” A Dangerous Rose, acrylic on birch wood, 20 x 16"

The show’s eponymous piece features a woman surrounded by Venus flytraps, which symbolizes persistence. “That is a part of what being an artist is all about,” Dann says. “Staying persistent in our endeavors and staying true to our vision.” Though the Venus flytrap might not capture a fly each time it clamps shut, it has no choice but to take a moment to reset and then try again.

Dann often creates her imagery by “Frankensteining” together references from different sources—the tilt of a head from one image, the hand gesture from another. “I don’t adhere to a stringent method of working,” she says. “I allow for a lot of fluidity and happy accidents.”Skull Candy, acrylic on birch wood, 20 x 16"

Semi-Sweet, acrylic on birch wood, 20 x 20"

In Skull Candy, a woman is surrounded by flowering strings of bleeding, broken hearts. A hummingbird drinks from their nectar. “On the surface, it’s very beautiful, but to me it also hints at the relationship between nature and humans, and the give and take of it all,” Dann says. Cotton Candy, acrylic on birch wood, 36 x 24"Collector David Gorman praised Dann’s evolving, discerning style. “I was originally attracted to her nuanced use of complex textures and the layering of transparent tones, giving an ethereal quality to her paintings,” he says. “This stylistic attribute has stayed consistent as her painterly style has evolved and become more refined, keeping a collector like myself eager to witness her latest works as they come off the easel.”