Dawn Surratt
Real But Not True
Aug 6 - 29 , 2026
Real But Not True is a project that speaks to all the bits, bobs and ramblings we carry around in our brains: the circular thinking, the obscure and mysterious language of metaphor and the relentless mind chatter that divides our focus.
Since the pandemic of 2020, the perception I've held of myself and the world around me has been challenged in unexpected ways. Many things about how I base my understandings, inform myself and adjust to change were brought to light in a new way. I began questioning myself and whether I was overreacting to things or not. The chaos and fragmentation of the world seeped into my ability to feel grounded in reality. This body of work evolved from the concept "real but not true" which talks about walking a balance between holding space for feelings but also examining distorted beliefs and limiting illusions.
Collage and assemblage are used as the foundational techniques for this work, incorporating disparate elements such as found photographs and my own captured images, layered with materials such as leather, thread, paper and wood. These techniques and fragments of materials serve as windows into different timelines and narratives. They create a dialogue between memory and identity and become a more expanded possibility of reality by bridging the gap between what feels real and what is, or is not, true.
In-Person Artist Talk
Sat, Aug 8 at 2 PM
Dawn Surratt (American, b. 1960, she/her) earned a B.A. in Studio Arts from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Georgia. Her years of work with dying patients in hospice settings is the backbone of her imagery combining photographs with photography based book structures, installations, and objects as visual meditations exploring concepts of grief, transition, healing and spirituality.
She has exhibited in galleries across the United States and internationally including The Center for Fine Art Photography, Griffin Museum of Photography, Maine Museum of Photography and Casa Regis Center for Culture and Contemporary Art in Biella, Italy. Her work has been widely published for book covers and publications such as Lenscratch, SHOTS, Diffusion,Analog Forever, The Sun and The Hand. She was a 2016, 2020 and 2024 Critical Mass Finalist and her work is held in collections internationally including the Peabody Essex Museum, the Griffin Museum of Photography and the Rubinstein Library at Duke University. She is a 2018 nominee for the Royal Photography Society’s 100 Heroines.
Dawn is a full time artist living in rural North Carolina.