Master of Fusion - Living Magazine July 2016
Updated: Jul 21
Master of Fusion BY Saashya Rodrigo Painting: the act of using pigment to colour a surface. Sculpting: the act of casting, carving, or shaping a material, to create a 2D or 3D object. And then, there’s a extraordinary juxtaposition of the two: a beautiful collision of painting and sculpting, which I’d call the Daniel Curran effect. Curran is an Atlanta-based artist, originally from Boston. Having lived in Virginia, California, Canada and Hawaii, Curran collected a wealth of knowledge and experience that has sculpted him into the artist he is today. Sure, he’s a highly experienced artist, drawing and painting since childhood. Sure, he holds impressive technical qualifications in the field of fine arts, holding a degree from the Atlanta College of Art (now the notable Savannah College of Art and Design, more commonly known as SCAD). But Daniel Curran has a naturally artistic hand, and a wildly creative eye that experience, training and technical knowledge can only enhance. The quiet, friendly and incredibly humble Daniel Curran and I meet at a coffee shop. His business card – collected a few months ago, from a table of multiple other artists’ business cards, at the entrance of a shop – is sandwiched in a compartment in my wallet. The vibrancy of the image on his card initiated my interest in Curran’s work. I refused to do much background research prior to the interview, because the images I saw of his work were too intriguing for me to walk in with a pre-determined idea of who Daniel Curran is. I begin our conversation with only the memory of his paintings to lead my questions, which helps me develop an authentic understanding of Curran and his artistic process, as told by the artist himself. His artwork merges sculpture with painting, such that each piece is drenched in texture. His transition from using mellow, earthy tones to striking, bright ones is much like his transition from oil to acrylic paints. It signified a transition in his life; from a time of self-discovery, to a time of self-exploration. The phase of self-discovery allowed Curran to move slowly, as one would with slow-drying oil paints; each feeling, each experience blending into the other and drying over time, to form a landscape of memories that helped him find himself. The transition into his exploratory stage involves an experimentation of bright colours and textural application that evokes an element of confidence.
