My paintings don't follow a logical composition or narrative. I like to build up subject matter, through a sometimes intensive process of layering, erasing, editing and reorganising, to allow the viewer to make their own interpretation, which resonates with them visually and emotionally. Rather than follow conventions of perspective or representation, I try to paint as I see, in glimpses and fragments, with memory and sensation, and an awareness of the mystery and power of the natural world. We live in a time where nature can no longer be taken for granted, and our own deep connection to the living world of plants and creatures must be honoured. I think of the plants that I paint more as plant forms rather than individual species, perhaps something akin to a Platonic ideal, or a meta-form or template for all the plants yet to manifest.’
Finch's wide travels in southern Europe, Scandinavia, India, Nepal and the US have informed much of her work. Wild and extreme landscapes of deserts and rugged mountains captivate her, particularly the robust forms of desert plants, but there is also an investigation of the garden and the poetic narratives of such cultivated and inhabited spaces. One of the most formative experiences of her life was visiting the Moorish gardens and palaces of Spain as a child. Now living in West Cornwall, a cooler but no less dramatic and wondrous environment, she paints in a studio in Trewidden Gardens near Newlyn.
Dana has been a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists since 2016 and has work in private collections in the UK, including in the University of Oxford, as well as in the US and throughout Europe.