Our Story

Chaos in Color, where the cats are alive, and the people are not.  We create thought-provoking art for your joyfully dark heart!  

ABOUT THE ARTIST

All of the art at Chaos in Color is the work of one person, contemporary artist AV Dunn.

Being a night owl who grew up across the street from an old small-town cemetery, Annie's paintings reflect the dark from a cheerfully macabre point of view. She has, in a way, become reacquainted with her childhood love of writing spooky stories, except this time with images instead of words.

While stumbling through a number of other careers, the urge to draw was always there.  Like a cat who is ready to receive pets, it respected no boundaries.

Somewhere around 1985, well before personal computers were an everyday thing, Annie fell in love with the combination of art and technology.  It was an uphill battle at the time, but this early influence made digital painting a natural choice for her medium.  She took it up formally in 2003.

Most of her paintings feature skeletons who don't know they're dead, and cats just being themselves.  Cats and skeletons are, she says, her two favorite kinds of people, and that's why they are her primary characters.  With no existing genre to accurately categorize her work, she describes it as gleefully existential.

Annie was born vision impaired, and her bold style reflects this. She also puts an emphasis on the eyes of her subjects and even includes eyeballs as subjects in their own right.

Although public sightings are rare, Annie is rumored to live with her partner and a clowder of cats in the suburbs of Phoenix Arizona.  In her down time, she enjoys spending time with cats, listening to post-apocalyptic audio books, grandiose music, and a steady stream of science.

ARTIST STATEMENT 

"I read somewhere that art is fundamentally a social activity.  I've often said that I'm not a social person, but maybe that's a lie.  Maybe I just do it differently.  I want my work to make people think, to look closer, pay attention, and question their first impression.  The people who engage their curiosity and who take the time to discover, those are the people that I would want to get to know.  Which I would wholeheartedly do, if I were a social person."

ART PROCESS

"While many of my designs start as ball-point pen gestures, I am at heart a digital painter.  After taking a photo of the initial sketch, I paint freehand on my computer using a Wacom tablet and pressure sensitive stylus.  During the design process, I emphasize the use of color and contrast to create a bold visual impact. Most pieces also include an element of existential symbolism.  My primary software tool is Corel Painter, with some additional adjustments made in Photoshop.  Some of my paintings take only a few days to create, but the more involved pieces can take up to a month.  For the final result, I produce prints in small batches using high quality archival materials."

LIVE EVENTS 

We attend a limited number of live events, mostly in Arizona.  Subscribe to our newsletter for announcements about upcoming shows. 

Keep in mind that the artist is vision impaired.  If she doesn't recognize you, this doesn't mean that she doesn't remember you.  Go ahead and announce yourself.  It'll be a lot less awkward for everyone.   

FANDOM 

Go behind the scenes at Chaos in Color with the Cats of Chaos.  Join the clowder for free on Patreon. 

GIVING BACK  

We donate artwork to cat rescue fundraisers by request. If you think our vibe would appeal to your audience, get in touch to tell us about your cat-rescue event.

THANK YOU

As a micro-business, every whisker of support makes an impact on our ability to keep the doors open.  Thank you for being here!