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Dustin Harewoodavailable works
Dustin Harewood grew up in New York City and Barbados, receiving his BA from North Carolina Central University and MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Harewood has twice been recognized with a Distinguished Faculty Award from Florida State College at Jacksonville and was named Arts Educator of the Year by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville in 2017. In his work, Harewood reflects locations of personal importance including Jacksonville, Christ Church in Barbados, and Aomori Japan. He draws inspiration from his familial lineage and the immediacy of today’s culture.
Harewood’s art practice over the last decade has explored themes of multiculturalism and the consequences of colonialism and industrialization. He explores the 21st century world of desire for instant gratification in all aspects of life, and seeks to find nuance within vanishing moments in order to capture a narrative between histories.
While beautifully fascinating and simultaneously destructive, our contemporary culture is one that is wasteful yet transformative. A throw away culture which takes garbage and up-cycles it into valuable objects which transcend time, religion, fine art and commerce. Harewood’s material explorations do just that, often using discarded packages, mass produced manufactured single-use plastics and recycled fibers. Harewood embellishes, collages, adorns and recontextualizes these objects into substantive works of art, works which consider what makes beauty and how to transform the past, present and future through complicated associations in history and narrative. Harewood's work can also be seen currently at Jacksonville's Museum of Contemporary Art Triennial.