Stamp of Approval Series: Bone Straight, 1998

Mixed media collage on black board

8.75 x 6.75 inches

Courtesy of an anonymous donor.

Throughout Dunkley's career she has investigated the cultural manifestations of the African Diaspora saturated in generations of European thought and consciousness. Spiritual immortality, the innocence of childhood, the struggle with self-image and black resistance to marginalization are all themes in her work. Often with a specific focus on the female, Dunkley renders the documented and undocumented challenges of day-to-day pan-cultural survival. Culturally enriched by West Indian parents and inspired by the struggles of African descendants displaced throughout the Western Hemisphere, her work explores the experience and politics of denial that informs much of the history of the Americas. This focus coupled with the sociopolitical insights and outcomes of the "American Experience" frames the oeuvre of her work. Though often typecast as a textile artist, formal training in painting, sculpture, and mixed media enables an integration of media to fit her objectives. In actuality, Dunkley is exploiting the possibility of media, which now include printmaking and video.