This Artist Takes Western Adventure to a New Level
A Denver Artist Mixes Scavenged Materials with Western Inspiration to Create Intricate and Unexpected Collages and Sculptures
Artist Dolan Geiman turns salvaged scraps into metal magic. In his wall sculptures, such as “Forget Me Not,” Gei- man transforms modest and time-worn materials into complex, color-rich collages infused with imagination. | Photo & Interior Design Hudson + Bloum Design
Growing up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Dolan Geiman learned to approach the world with a spirit of creative exploration. “The sky was the limit for us; nothing was impossible,” he says. With an artist mother and a father who was both a schoolteacher and worked for the Forest Service, the family spent summers at a remote cabin. Geiman and his two siblings roamed the woods, observing wildlife and collecting things they’d found, while their mom also gave them art lessons. That childhood playtime— weaving together art and nature—sparked a curiosity that continues to resonate through Geiman’s work.
Geiman sits beside “Mary of the Fields,” a mixed-media collage with gold leaf that he created as part of a series devoted to saints and spiritual figures. The circular “Rising Folktale” is a hand-cut collage made from vintage paper. | Photo courtesy Dolan Geiman
After studying art and biology in college, Geiman moved into an abandoned warehouse and began selling his artwork on the street with a group of other artists. “We would find scraps in the dumpster of wood and we would make paintings on them,” he says. “I did that kind of weird lifestyle for a while, and we actually ended up getting a show at a gallery.” When Geiman moved to Chicago, he found another abandoned building and turned it into a gallery that caught the attention of his soon-to-be busi- ness partner and wife, Ali Marie. Her love for spreadsheets and organization complements his artistic talent, and they’ve been a strong team for the past 25 years.
Mixing media and techniques, Geiman depicts a herd of bison on antique book covers in “As Far as the Eye Can See,” combining illustration, painting, screen printing, vintage postage stamps, handwritten letters, math lessons and other found printed material. | Photo Randy Parietti
The pair relocated to Colorado in 2015 with hopes of reconnecting with nature and establishing a healthier lifestyle. Geiman had dreamed of the West as a child. “I was really enamored with the mythology of the West,” he says. Now that it was his home, he embraced opportunities to hike and explore, eagerly observing animals and plants. “I’m very much thirsty for adventure,” Geiman says. “Most of the work I’m doing now has some element of nature in it.”
Geiman creating a new artwork. | Photo Idarado Media
Geiman’s mixed-media sculptures and collages include vibrant portraits of people and animals, as well as faux taxidermy mounts. He fuses together a rich array of unconventional materials, often scavenged from a country roadside or a forgotten homesite lost in the forest. “When I was a kid, my mom would provide all sorts of materials for us, and she was not ever one to say, ‘Oh no, you can’t do that,’” Geiman recalls. He still relishes the challenge of bending boundaries, searching for discarded objects with an eye-catching texture or patina. Geiman recently discovered a bullet-riddled vintage car hood embedded in the woods and dragged it back to his studio to refashion into various art pieces.
“Impala African Antelope” is part of a series of original faux taxidermy sculptures Geiman makes from salvaged metal. | Artwork by Dolan Geiman, Photo David Ettinger
Ultimately, Geiman hopes to convey a message that nature is beautiful but fragile, and we all need to think about how we interact with it. “I want people to see all the little things that happen outside that we take for granted, and I want people to be excited and interested and curious about the plants and flowers and all the tiny insects and things that make up this amazing natural landscape,” he says. “I want people to be as enamored with the wild places as I am.” And what does Geiman’s first art teacher, his mother, think of his artwork? “She is my biggest fan,” he says. “I’m very lucky.”
Geiman’s fanciful “Cactus Rodeo” merges paint with vintage paper collage. | Photo courtesy Dolan Geiman
For a special commission, Geiman created “Great Plains (Moose) Natural,” a faux taxidermy sculpture made from salvaged tin, reclaimed leather, rope, chains and found objects. | Photo Randy Parietti
In the “Canyon Creek Angel” wall sculpture, Geiman brings hand-cut, recycled tin to life. | Photo courtesy Dolan Geiman
As seen in ML’s January/February 2024 Issue
