Dasa and her Mother in 1970
Artist Profile
Dasa Bausova's colorful, highly charged paintings stem from her upbringing in communist Czechoslovakia, where absurdism and humor were a matter of survival. She was raised by her mother, who was a dancer, and grandmother, who was a teacher. As a small child, Dasa played backstage at her mother's theater. She spent her later years studying painting, music and theater at the People's Schools of the Arts.
Bausova’s family was identified as anti government since the 1950s. Every male in the family was incarcerated and every member of the family was watched. This made Dasa’s future in her homeland full of undesirable challenges. In 1980 she stole hers and her mother’s passports from a tour official in Yugoslavia and they escaped to Austria. After nearly a year in a refugee camp they immigrated to the United States searching for a different future. Once in the U.S., Dasa continued her art education and earned a B.F.A. in painting from Ohio University and an M.A. in arts administration from Indiana University.
The unusual circumstances of her early life create a backdrop for a unique vision of a complex world gone askew. Psychological, ideological and sensual elements are inseparable in Bausova's images and narratives. “I mostly like to play with the discrepancies between our convictions and our actions. Any system, big or small, political or personal, always begins and ends with a plethora of micro decisions we make at every moment of our existence. I like to convey these minute instants as events of mythological proportions. It amuses me that so often, these seemingly insignificant flashes in time essentially rule our lives,” the artist explains.
Dasa Bausova's work appears in private collections throughout the United States, South America and Europe, and public collections at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and the Museum of European Art in the US. She currently lives and works near Aspen, Colorado.
Background
1965, born in Carlsbad, Czech Republic (CZ)
1967-71, backstage, Prague, CZ
1972-80, People’s Schools of the Arts (music, theater, art), Carlsbad, CZ
1980-81, refugee camp, Arbing, Austria
1981, immigrated to USA
1981-83, High School diploma with Commercial Art Certification,
Cleveland, OH
1984-89, Associate of Fine Arts, Cuyahoga Community College,
Cleveland, OH
assistant to the Art Department Chair
1991-92, B.F.A. in Painting, Ohio University, Athens, OH
1991-93, curatorial assistant, Kennedy Museum of American Art, Athens, OH
1994-96, M.A. in Arts Administration, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN consultant (Indianapolis Art Museum, Indiana University Art Museum)
1996-97, programs specialist, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1997-2001, director of marketing, Anderson Ranch Arts Center,
Snowmass Village, CO
attended workshops in contemporary art history (David Brauer) and printmaking (David Mohallatee)
2001-2002, account executive (advertising), Marlow Group, Aspen, CO
2002-present, president (consultant in marketing and development),
db Communications, Basalt, CO
Teaching
juror, Red Brick Center for the Arts, Artist Residency Program,
Aspen, CO 2004
lecturer, 10 x 10, Roaring Fork Valley Architects, Basalt, CO, 2004
painting faculty, Colorado Mountain College, Aspen, CO, 2004
lecturer, National Czech and Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA, 2003
painting instructor, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, 2000-2003
juror , Valley Kids, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, 2000
