ABOUT

Heather René Dunaway creates work that examines social expectations placed on women, particularly in the American South. Growing up in Georgia, she experienced firsthand the effects of diet culture, traditional gender roles, and unrealistic standards that have shaped generations of women in her family. Through this lens, she explores themes of inherited trauma and internalized misogyny.

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Dunaway works with found and inherited materials, including her grandmother’s quilting fabrics, family letters, sewing patterns, and recipe books. Using these objects, she re-tells personal stories that reflect broader experiences shared by many Southern families.

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A BFA graduate of Augusta University with deep interests in art history and feminist theory, Dunaway creates multidisciplinary work that combines subject matter and material to explore her experience as a woman.

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Her work has been exhibited throughout the Southeast at venues including Westobou Gallery, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, the Ann & Ellis Johnson Gallery, the Mary S. Byrd Gallery, and the Morris Museum of Art Education Gallery. She has also participated in Arts in the Heart of Augusta and ArtFields, and her work has been featured in Sample Augusta, The Augusta Press, Phoenix Magazine, and Sand Hills Magazine.

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She currently lives in Augusta, GA with her husband and two cats.