Artist's Bio

Artist’s Bio 2023

"A DREAMLIKE QUINTESSENTIALISM"

Since I was a very young child, I had felt a powerful affinity with Native American people and with the arts. One of the very first experiences that solidified those feelings was listening to Buffy Saint Marie singing “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone.” I was so inspired by the song that I asked my parents for a guitar for Christmas so I could learn to play it. Years later, in a very tearful moment, my father would reveal to me that both of his grandparents were Native American, his mother Abenaki and his father Iroquois, confirming my innate senses from my earliest years. The two had been raised in an orphanage in Saint Francis Quebec. Naturally, as a result of the treatment of native children in those infamous boarding schools, my grandfather had counseled my dad never to reveal his heritage for fear of the consequences. My dear father had lived with the shame of denying his heritage for his entire life, even when he had seen his son drawn to that heritage from an early age, finally he could hide it no longer and he revealed it to me.

The revelations from my father served to unlock a creative and emotional flood in my life and particularly with respect to my art. In the years since uncovering my own heritage I have found my art more and more influenced by my revealed roots.

Today, my work can be found in the collections of a broad range of people including singer/songwriter Livingston Taylor, Koko Taylor, Richard Merritt, Bill Bradley, Bruce Babbitt, Bill Clinton, Adhiambo Odaga, Bill Russell, Valerie Jarrett, and others. The images are a celebration of life, blending the real and the surreal to achieve a sense of place or time that reaches beyond the moment into what I call "a dreamlike quintessentialism" designed to spark an emotional response. Using digital enhancement, handcrafting, painting, poetry and sometimes even straight photography, I seek to take the viewer to a place that is beyond simple truth to where truth meets passion, hope, and dreams.

I studied photography under Richard Merritt at the University of New Hampshire. UNH had only a few photography classes but in those heady days Merritt worked with a small and dedicated group of photographers who would become some of today's finest photographers: Edward Acker III, Steve Bliss, Christopher Polydoroff, Casey MacNamara, Hannah Stutz, and others.

As a freshman at UNH, I borrowed a camera from my roommate in order to have a camera when he applied for a job as a photographer at The New Hampshire, the UNH student newspaper. I’d never used a camera but needed the money so I talked a good game and was hired, prompting me to quickly learn how to develop film and print images. Within a few days I was hooked and I went on to work for the New Hampshire for the next four years competing fiercely for front page images with my roommate and good friend Edward G. Acker III.

I earned my BS Degree in Environmental Conservation and a Masters Degree in Earth and Space Science Education from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, from which I would later received a Distinguished Alumnus award in 1994 for my work in public policy.

Elected 3 times as a State Rep and then three terms as State Senator from New Hampshire, I was the 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. After an unsuccessful campaign I turned my sights back to my art and work as a social entrepreneur. In '97 I founded The Electronic Community, a group of social entrepreneurs working on social and development issues in West Africa. Largely funded by the Ford Foundation, over the next 15 years we helped introduce the Internet to the Civil Society community in West Africa.

I have published four books of my art work and a novel - “Sacred Trust” - and currently I am at work on several others including a second novel.

On-Line Galleries and Sites

Art Gallery: www.WayneDKing.com

Production and Publication Company: www.Anamaki.com

Books:

Washday - An Homage to an American Tradition

Asquamchumaukee - Place of Mountain Waters

A Spot on the Porch - Rumney NH at 250

New Hampshire - A Love Story

Awards, Honors, Shows

1980 Boston Globe Annual Photography Contest, Honorable Mention - Michigan Washline

1982 New Hampshire Arts Association Juried Exposition: On the Vineyard

1995 Fisher Gallery, Plymouth, NH One Man Show “The World I See”

1997 Tilton Gallery, Invitational Show of Five Artists

2013 Selected for Conservation Artist Award

2014 Visiting Artist - Artistic Roots Gallery, Plymouth, NH

2014 “Coming About”, International Exhibition; CHANCERY ART GALLERY, Bracebridge, ON, CANADA; Images: Mallet’s Bay Panorama, Sailors Return

2014 Third Coast Annual National Art Competition, K Space Contemporary Gallery, Corpus Christie, TX;

2014 Best of Show, Bronze award, NH Arts Association Juried Show, Sunapee “I See the Way”

2015 Juried Show, National, “Food For Thought” Dehn Gallery, Manchester, CT 06040; Image: Painted Fungus image

2015 Juried Show, National, Linus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2015 Juried Show, Regional, “Healing with Art”: Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Manchester & Lebanon, NH; Images: Raining Umbrellas, Joy in the Splash Zone.

2016 One Man Show, "Motion, Moments, Movements & Mindscapes - Gathering Around the Hearth of Our Lives", Regional, Dartmouth Hitchcock Memorial Hospital,

2016 Juried Show, Regional, "Focus on the Figure" North River Arts Society, Marshfield, MA, Best in Show "Facing the Island"

2016 Juried Show, Abstracts, National, UrbanRiche Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Finalist (1 of 5), "Chevy on the Rez"

2017 New Hampshire Art's Association Invitational Exhibit, Regional, Eastman Community Center, Eastman NH: Three Images chosen: “Ode to Pollack”, “Windblown Skirt, Senegal” “Washday Alton NH”.

2017 Juried Show, Regional, "Focus on the Figure" North River Arts Society, Marshfield, MA, Honorable Mention "The Vineyard", "Into the Mist"

2017 One Planet One Home Invitational Show, Kehler Liddell Gallery in New Haven, CT, “The Road Darkens”

2017 One Person Show, Lincoln NH Public Library - Multiple Images

2017 One Person Show; Byron G. Merrill Library, Rumney, NH - Multiple Images

2018 Mixed Media Images and Poetry on Climate Change: The Fictional Cafe - 3 Images and accompanying poetry featured: “The Prevaricating Day”, “Wind in the Washline” and The Gathering Storm”.

2018 1st Place in Still Life Competition Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery - "Spring's Dance of Form"

2018 3rd Place All Colors Competition - Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis MD, "The Rising Too"

2018 5th Place, Figurative and Portrait Competition - Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis MD, "The Shoulder of Africa"

2018 2nd Place, 2018 ALL Sports/Athletics Competition - Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis MD, "Steeple Chase Colors"

2019 Group Exhibition, "Intentional Spaces" Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, VT; Light Fades on Broadacres Farm

2019 Judges Choice award, Landscapes - Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis MD, "Chapel on the Road to the Sun"

2019 8th Place All Colors Competition - Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis MD, "Speak to the Sky"

2020 Three pieces chosen in 37th Artavita international competition for inclusion in San Diego Show: Aspenglow on the Roaring Fork River, Home Before the Storm, Esheheman's Breath.

2020 Group Exhibition, "Dreamscapes and Visions" Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, VT; Aspenglow on the Roaring Fork River; Aspen, Colorado

2020 Light, Space and Time Gallery, 10th annual International Figurative Competition. 623 entries were received from 27 different countries from around the world, as well as from 30 different states and the District of Columbia. Two of King’s images were selected for recognition: "The Shoulder of Africa", and Ghost Dance.

2020 CAGO Gallery International Abstract Competition, Second Place, Cry Like the Rain, Howl Like the Wind.

2020 July: Third Coast Biennial Exhibition International competition, K Space Contemporary

415D Starr Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78403. Image: Home Before the Storm

2020 December: Small Works, Big Talent Competition, Las Laguna Gallery, 577 S. Coast Highway A-1, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. Image: Autumn Colors on the Deck.

2021 June: Juror's Choice Award, New York Center for Photographic Art (NYC4PA) Wandering Curves Exhibition; "Blue Hellebore Dreams"

April 2022: Three montages combining photographic art and poetry chosen for inclusion in a poetry anthology to be published by The Fictional Café in their second Fictional Café Anthology, The Strong Stuff: The Best of Fictional Café, Volume II.

2022 November: "In Sync in Senegal" chosen for 27th issue of Artistonish International Arts magazine.

2022-2023 “Contemporary Masters Collection” In October of 2022 I was honored by the selection of six images, spanning the many years of my life, that will be featured in an International book of contemporary artists scheduled for release in June 2023.