Dana Hargrove
by Jenn Allen
What Amazing Places are Right
Outside Your Doorstep?
– or –
How to Become Rooted in a Foreign Land
When I first contacted Dana Hargrove, she
politely informed me that she would be camping for the following four days and would not
have access to WiFi until she returned home.
The thought of being completely disconnected sounds amazing, but it is also a frightening
thought. Unplugging has become more than
just an action; it is now also a state of mind.
More people could benefit from cutting themselves off from instant fingertip access to the
world, especially before elections. In Central
Florida, we are only an hour from beaches, natural springs, nature trails, multiple state parks,
and so many lakes. Hargrove, unlike most of
us, makes time to escape the concrete and
appreciate the beauty of her surroundings—
while they are still left mostly untouched.
smiling at strangers for no reason other than to
be polite, complimenting a stranger’s appearance, and making small talk of weather and politics while in line at the grocery store. Hargrove
was taken aback by all of these traits—which
on the surface seem inviting and friendly—but
the invitation for friendship is never extended
beyond these so-called polite encounters. This
façade can be found in all aspects of American
culture. Old buildings get fresh coats of paint
when rustic bricks become exposed, and in
some cases they are completely torn down and
replaced with something shiny and new. Architecture is completely contrived in the United States; cookie-cutter neighborhoods of prefab houses can be found all over the country
for our friendly Americans to live in. The only
thing that changes in neighborhoods across the
nation is the landscaping. Hargrove has explored digital manipulation—or enhancement,
as she calls it—to photography as a way to give
new meanings to the landscape surrounding
In America, we are taught to be unauthentic: her. Using her neighborhood as a subject, she
As a conceptual artist, Hargrove addresses
the issues of consumerism vs. nature, and displacement. She uses multiple mediums such
as painting, photography, video, and sculpture to create visually fun works of art with
deeper meaning. Born and raised in Scotland,
Hargrove moved to America to pursue her
MFA. The drastic culture change was not easy
for her to adapt to. Her work up to that point
was site-specific and driven by the natural
beauty of her surroundings in Scotland. Of her
new life in a college town in Southern Illinois,
Hargrove explains, “I wasn’t feeling confident
in my surroundings. I didn’t know the history.” It took her a while to understand the culture of this new place. The site-specific work
that she had created in Scotland was now considered graffiti and a crime. Turning to more
traditional forms of art helped Hargrove cope
with her displacement, and also helped her become “rooted” in her new life.
Absentia #1, acrylic on beech plywood
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