Dawn Leone is a classically trained contemporary artist and certified visual arts educator based in New York. Her practice explores the natural world through a dynamic blend of expressive painting and experimental printmaking techniques.
Her work has been recognized with multiple awards and has been exhibited nationally across the United States as well as internationally throughout Europe.
New Work in Progress
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New Work in Progress 〰️
Recent Work
Evolving from IceScapes, Land & Sea continues an exploration of Earth's beauty and mystery. Our planet is ever-changing; fluid yet cyclic, familiar yet unknown. This series reflects on the natural world’s elegance while delving into its deeper complexities. Through life studies, observations of natural patterns and cycles, and reflections on human impact, Land & Sea invites viewers to contemplate both the wonder and fragility of our environment.
2018- 2020 - IceScapes
IceScapes is a series that explores the textural and tonal complexity of glacial ice through oil painting and reduction woodcut printmaking.
Inspired by the dramatic, otherworldly landscapes of Iceland, particularly the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. This body of work captures the visual poetry of a land shaped by both fire and ice. Towering fragments of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier drift through the lagoon, slowly melting into the sea. Some are caught in the tide and tumbled along the coast, while others unexpectedly flip as they become top-heavy, creating massive swells that ripple through the icy waters. Witnessing these moments while observing, photographing, or kayaking among the glaciers was both breathtaking and humbling with each flip of ice a reminder of nature’s immense and unpredictable power.
As these icebergs melt, rotate, and transform, they take on surprising shapes and hues. The whites, blues, and greens are more than just visually stunning, they hold meaning. The colors reflect oxygen levels, freezing rates, and atmospheric conditions at the time of formation, making each piece of ice a kind of time capsule. These natural details along with the dance of light between glacier, sky, and water created an ever-shifting, mesmerizing palette that informed each work in the series.
IceScapes seeks to preserve fragments of these fleeting experiences. The collection comprises 15 works created over four years, ranging from intimate 2 inch squares to monumental pieces over 7 feet wide. Featured in the series are two award winning reduction woodcuts: Reynisfjara (24” x 87”), printed in collaboration with Big Ink and recognized by the Mamaroneck Artists Guild, and Jokulsarlon (2 sq. ft.), awarded by The Center for Contemporary Printmaking.
This series is an exploration of color theory through the nuanced interplay of Process Blue, Phthalo Green, and Process Yellow. Each subtly tinted with white to evoke a fresh, mint inflected palette. These works investigate the optical tension between blue and green, where hue becomes fluid, shifting according to its context within the composition.
Through layering and juxtaposition, this body of work examines how color is not fixed, but perceived. How the eye can be tricked and how color relationships create both ambiguity and harmony. The resulting pieces are at once vibrant and contemplative, inviting viewers to experience the illusion, emotion, and logic of color all at once.