My Art is Real: A Look at Artist Sir Daniel Winn and his Award-Winning Painting

[as originally published on myartisrealmagazine.com]

Artist, curator, gallery owner, what can’t Sir Daniel Winn do? Born in Southern Vietnam in 1966, Winn later emigrated to the United States where he began to study at UCI medical school before realizing his true passion was in art. His works have been shown internationally and throughout the US gaining him quite a reputation for his unique style of paintings and sculptures, which he calls “Existential Surrealism.”

Both this style and philosophy of “Existential Surrealism” were conceived by Sir Winn, which he described to us in his own words, “The style involves contrasts and counterpoints and examines the physical and spiritual dichotomy of existence. It juxtaposes the idea of a universal, creative divinity against the concept of free will and self-determination by recognizing divinity as the genesis of autonomy and acknowledging our responsibility for universally constructive action.” Using this surrealistic style, Winn focuses on the physical and spiritual world and encourages us to examine our own nature of existence. In his paintings, he conveys this message using translucent figures sometimes wearing a gasmask or other face coverings, along with fading backgrounds full of surreal elements of melting clocks and apples; whereas for Sir Winn’s sculptures, we see these same masks but with large and intricate horns representing the same complexities of our existence and our ever-changing decisions and the resulting outcomes.

Recently, Sir Daniel was awarded Gold in Contemporary Painting, and Silver in the category of Sculptures. The painting, “Beyond Couture,” awarded by the Mondial Art Academy, was chosen as the winner by a panel of 45 international judges. A collaborative work between Winn and China’s most famous fashion designer, Guo Pei, the painting and others were featured in an exhibition of works at the renowned Bowers Museum. The exhibition was titled ‘Guo Pei: Couture Beyond,’ and featured several dresses designed by Guo with accompanying paintings by Sir Daniel. These works embody the essence of each artists’ ancestry, culture, and passion for storytelling through art. Sir Daniel perfectly recreates the textures and details of each dress with his brush and canvas, and of course, does so in his signature “Existential Surrealism” style.