Donise English

Space House (Contemporary Quirky Abstract Encaustic Painting on Square Panel)

2016

Donise English is a Poughkeepsie-based artist who received her bachelor of science from Art History State University College at New Paltz in 1977 and MFA from Bard College in 1986 and is currently a Professor of Studio Art at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. English is interested in drawing and collaging multiple layers of information that refer abstractly to maps, architectural drawings and blueprints or patterns and structures found in such things as roller coasters, power lines and fences. She uses gouache and collaged paper in a series of layers that are a visual and ideological response to the previous layer to define her pictorial space. For each piece, English creates a set of rules to follow about the use of a limited palette, a grid format, opacity of paper and whether a piece may include curving lines or maintain a rectilinear structure. English has received numerous awards including a 2018 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Painting; the Invitational Award for Outstanding Contemporary Talent from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Purchase Prize from the “11th National Juried Exhibition” at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland; 1st Prize, “Women in the Visual Arts,” Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut; the Joseph A. Cain Memorial Purchase Award for Sculpture, Del Mar College, Texas, Honorable Mention and others.