An Abundant Life - Illuminating Art

Dana Gambale is one of the most luminous and lovely young women I know. Her art is in some ways on the darker side, but because she is so full of light, even the darker pieces feel somehow effervescent. There is a natural humor in her work, and a love for making statements that are full of sweetness to help us accept the very real and meaningful commentary she is making on society, on personalities, on the internet and on popular culture. In a way you could call her work "Pop Art" and it is to a certain extent, but in a way it is also more than that, bringing reminders of history, relevant statements about the world we live in, and echoing back to some of the Fluxus artists and the early days of Marcel DuChamp and the simplicity of pieces being displayed as they are and as they exist in real life, being hung on the wall and therefore becoming art.

A graduate of Brooklyn College with a degree in studio art, Dana had originally wanted to be a fashion designer, something that I'm sure she'd be wonderful at, but there is so much more to her creative mind and heart that delves deeply into the vast and various mediums she explores and discovers. She enjoys learning about new methods and working with media she has never worked with before, and though she does find inspiration in popular culture, movies and television, she also creates original pieces that have no reference and in her words, "is usually something that has randomly popped into my brain and I decided to make it." Most recently she has been working with plexiglass and has begun to learn wood turning from her father. As she describes it, "I love the challenge of figuring out something new to use in a piece." Her pieces and the materials she uses are inventive, as are the clever titles and names she christens them with. The entire experience of Dana Gambale's art is immersive, a place for the viewer and the creator to have a meeting of the minds and senses.

I met Dana one afternoon a few years ago when she was having a Labor Day weekend yard sale outside of her apartment building with her husband Eric Sanchez. I had met Eric almost exactly a year before, and he had introduced me to a wonderful thrift and vintage store across the city where I had gone on an adventure at his recommendation. After meeting Dana and finding out that she was an artist, I continued to connect with this lovely couple, learning more about Eric in the process and eventually writing about him in this blog. I had been wanting to write about Dana for the longest time, and last fall when she was part of an event in Hoboken for Halloween I got the chance to take some photos of her work. I was also able to photograph her in her Halloween costume - when I first walked in the room and saw her I knew immediately that she was a bat when I saw her black wings, but she made such a lovely and luminous bat that it almost seemed that she was some other kind of more friendly and sweet-natured creature all together. Bats actually get an undeserved bad rap - they're quite useful in the scheme of ecology and they are not at all harmful. They are actually rather sweet natured and peaceful, so perhaps Dana's costume really was suited to her personality. In any case, she was lovely in her bat costume, which is not something that I could ever imagine saying about anyone, but with Dana I don't think it's possible for her not to be lovely - there's something inside of her that just simply is beautiful.

And it's that beauty that shines through her work, as funny and full of social commentary as it may be. Something about the way her mind thinks brings the messages she shares into another realm altogether, and as we watch and interact with her art, we find ourselves smiling, recognizing important truths and being able to take part in a journey to self examination that leads to an understanding of how to impact the world around us with words and images that can promote change for the good.

Dana Gambale

And Eric Sanchez

At The Kolo Klub

1422 Grand Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.koloklub.com/
danagambale.com
shopdanger.io
Instagram @danadanger
Instagram Store @shopdangerstore

Art Prints Of "A Clown's Butcher"

Original Piece Made Of

Liquid Latex, Plaster, Wood, String, Fake Blood

Art Print Of "John In Space"

Original Art Piece

Made Of Plexiglass, Mirrors, Acrylic Paint, Wood Base

Art Print Of An Original Piece

Based On The Movie "The Professional"

"Professional Lovers"

Original Piece Made Of

Light, Paper, Felt, Plastic, Acrylic Paint, Carboard, Wood

"Bat Country"

Birch And Balsa Wood, Acrylic, Tissue Paper, Mylar, Battery Operated Lights

An Art Print Of An Original Yarn Sculpture

"Ball O' Cat"

"The Last Temptation Of Marge"

Foam, Foam Board, Felt, Wood, Recording System

The Art Of Dana Gambale

Photographs Courtesy Of Dana Gambale

"Fish Lamp"

Glass Fish Lamp, Multiple Fabrics

"Ball O' Cat"

Yarn, Balsa Wood, Styrofoam, Acrylic Paint, Fabric

"Cheesemouse"

Styrofoam, Plaster, Polyurethane, Wire, Ceramic Tile

"What About Phil?"

Woodcut Print

 "Gambale Machine"

Wood, Pompoms, 25 Cent Machine, Plastic, Aluminum

"I Am The Bat"

Acrylic On Canvas

"Mr. Roofus Woofus The Hot Dog, Hot Dog"

Paint, Plaster, Styrofoam, Polyurethane

"Til Death Do Us Part"

Fabric, Dried Flower, Wallpaper, Mixed Media

 "When Hell Is Full"

Acrylic On Stretched Canvas, Masonite Board Spray Painted Black

Blessings,

Jannie Susan