Dara Larson | scratchboard, ink

Dara Larson is an Associate Professor of Art and Chairperson of the Aesthetic Engagement Ability Department at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She teaches printmaking, fibers, contemporary topics in art and international studies courses. Her work at the college has included participation in the United States Department of Education Grants in Latin Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. Larson also relies upon the experiential elements of travel study to inform the content of her teaching and studio practice. She has lectured and studied in Europe, South American, Central America, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Her artworks have been exhibited and collected internationally. She works in drawing, printmaking, papermaking, digital imagery and artists’ books. Her current work includes a focus upon the architectural and psychological conditions of cities or urban environments. The portrayal of the city is emphasized through metaphoric depictions of contemporary events. Organic, intuitive forms are contrasted with geometric structural components to elicit both spatial and emotional reactions to the state of living in a community. Figures, landscapes, monuments and occurrences are used as metaphors, exaggerated recreations, or reconstructions of reality.

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