Cajal Portfolio
Biography
Dawn Hunter is an Associate Professor, Fulbright Scholar, visual artist, and a distinguished member of the faculty at the University of South Carolina's School of Visual Art and Design. She served in the esteemed capacity of Fulbright España Senior Research Fellow at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, Spain. Her current oeuvre, eloquently titled "Aesthetic Instincts: The Intersection of Art and Science in the Life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal," pays homage to the foundational figure in neuroscience through a compelling series of biographical illustrations and paintings.
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This provocative series, ingeniously interweaving the realms of art and science, is underscored by Professor Hunter's scrupulous exploration of Cajal’s original scientific drawings preserved within the revered archives of the Legado Cajal at the Instituto Cajal. Additionally, she draws inspiration and raw material directly from the scientific illustrations produced by Cajal himself, some of which are currently being showcased at the John Porter Neuroscience Research Center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD.
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The breadth of Professor Hunter's work not only echoes her artistic prowess but also magnifies her innate ability to synthesize historical and scientific context into a coherent artistic narrative, thus fostering a profound dialogue between the past and the present, science and art.
Dawn Hunter pursued her undergraduate studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, Parsons School of Design, and the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art & Music. As a Regents Fellow, she received her MFA from the University of California, Davis where she studied with Robert Arneson, Roy DeForest, and Irit Rogoff. She has participated in numerous solo and multiple artist exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe. Additionally, she has also received many awards and grants for her artwork, most notably, a Starr Foundation Fellowship, enabling her to be the first American woman to serve as Artist-in-Residence at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art in the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, and she received the 2017-2018 Fulbright España Senior Research Fellowship to the Instituto Cajal, Madrid.
