E. David Dornan was born in Helper, Utah in 1954.  Dornan paints recognizable objects into abstractions of space, surface, and shape through countless brushstrokes. He lives and has an artist colony in Helper, Utah. 

Dornan received his BFA from the University of Utah (1976) and his MFA from Arizona State University (1982). He has been an instructor for the University of Utah art and art history department faculty since the early 1980s.He was an instructor for University of Utah/Snowbird Summer Art Institute and the University of Utah summer arts program (1977, 1978, and 1979). 

Because Dornan believes that art should communicate more directly with its viewer, he moved away from abstract art.  Dornan's work combines western academic theory with modernism. His painting is characterized by the tension created between recognizable objects and a two-dimensional field comprised of brushstrokes. Examples of his work are Chair (1983), Big Blue(1999), and Filigree (2000).

Dave Dornan, from Aurora, Colorado, lives in Centerville when he's not working in Salt Lake City or Helper, Utah. One of the most innovative painters in Utah today, Dornan draws the recognizable object into abstractions of space, surface, and shape through countless brushes with regions just beyond accepted reality. His monotypes are particularly effective. He is a graduate of the University of Utah (B.F.A., 1976) and Arizona State University (M.F.A., 1982). He was an instructor for the University of Utah/Snowbird Summer Arts Institute and the “U Summerarts” program (1977, 1978, 1979), and has been a much valued teacher for the U of U art and art history department faculty since early in the 1980's. Dornan has exhibited and sold his paintings and prints extensively throughout Utah, Arizona, and elsewhere and is the recipient of numerous awards for his work.

Biography courtesy Springville Museum of Art.

Newspaper Articles

"Galleries." The Deseret News, March 1, 1998.

"Galleries." The Deseret News, December 24, 1995.

"Galleries." The Deseret News, February 9, 1992.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, April 4, 2004.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, May 4, 2003.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, June 30, 2002.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, January 7, 2001.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, March 12, 2000.

Books

Dunbier, Lonnie P. ed. The Artists Bluebook. Scottsdale, AZ: Ask Art com, 2000.

Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and Vern G. Swanson. Artists of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, Donna Poulton and Janie L. Rogers. 150 Year Survey Utah Art & Artists. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2002.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Art. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publishing Co., 1991.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Painting and Sculpture. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1997.

Utah Arts Council. Utah Arts Council's Visual Artist Fellowship Award Recipients: a View of Four: Lee Udall Bennion, Allen Bishop, David Dornan, Moishe Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Arts Council, 1990.

Periodicals

Gangelhoff, Bonnie. "At Home in Helper." Southwest Art, July 2000.

Morrison, Shari. "Shari Notebook." Art-Talk, March 2003.

Poole, Claire. "Best of the West." Southwest Art, March 1998.

Rossiter, Shawn. "Brandon Cook, Ogden, UT." 15 Bytes, May 2003. http://www.artistsofutah.org/newsletter/03may/page1.html (accessed June 23, 2008).

Southwest Art. "Contemporary Utah Artists." Southwest Art, January 2002.

Southwest Art. "Resort Town Collections." Southwest Art, October 2001.