A native Chicagoan, Dara Felz received her B.A. from Northeastern Illinois University in 2005, majoring in Fine Art.  Previously, Ms. Felz attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the Université de Paris, La Sorbonne where she studied French and took drawing and painting classes.  She has participated in many group shows in Madison, San Francisco and Chicago and has received several scholastic awards and talent-based scholarships.  Her work has been commissioned by Kitsch’n on Roscoe, Chicago Art Source and The Stained Glass Wine Bar and Bistro.   Currently, Dara maintains a studio in the Cornelia Arts Building in Chicago.
Artist's Statement
As my enthusiasm for art has consistently been a major influence in many of my life decisions, the style and direction of my work has evolved and changed dramatically at varying intervals.  Recurrently, I have employed the human form as a fulcrum for its ability to express a myriad of emotions and personal experiences. My most recent undergraduate coursework bolstered my curiosity in the marriage of traditional media with new tools of observation, such as the digital camera and light microscope, in order to communicate the multidimensionality of my interests.

I currently strive to make work that couples scientific observation with a strong emotional component through the various media of painting. Choosing to not limit my palette exclusively to one specific type of paint, I prefer to use the medium that will allow for the best expression of my subject.  Prepared slides of various cellular material, as well as cartographic and anatomical manuals, are the visual inspirations of my most recent paintings.  I consider them as the pathways, patterns and infrastructures of nature, a balanced set of blueprints that inform my work.

Excavating what is unknown or misunderstood to arrive at a conclusion, is as much a scientific argument as an artistic process. Curious about the correlation between the physiological design of the natural world and our greater cerebral milieu, I am seeking ways in which to traverse these ideas with an innovative visual language, employing the processes of research, intuition, contemplation and revision.

“Becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself,
which makes your work personal, and finding your own voice,
which makes your work distinctive.”