Bob Dohrmann earned his Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing in 1992 from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. In 1999, he joined the faculty at The University of Oklahoma, where he initially focused on teaching foundation courses. Over the years, his teaching portfolio has expanded to include a variety of studio and art criticism courses. Currently, his primary teaching responsibilities center on sophomore drawing, collage and assemblage, and comics and sequential art.
Dohrmann’s current body of work incorporates traditional found 2D and 3D materials sourced primarily from thrift stores. These materials include oversized romantic cardboard print paintings, shadow box clocks, unplayable LP records, and an eclectic assortment of vintage 3D objects. He describes his process as a form of cultural anthropology, exploring thrift stores wherever he finds them to collect inexpensive Americana ephemera. He views these spaces as both museums and consumer graveyards, where countless items—relics of consumer culture—await rebirth.
When an object sparks his curiosity, Dohrmann transforms it through a process he calls “re-arting,” employing remix and mash-up strategies to give the item new life and meaning. The aged and antiquated aesthetic of these objects is integral to his work, as each piece carries a veneer of history that reflects American consumer culture. This sense of age becomes a lens through which he examines contemporary societal issues.
Dohrmann’s work explores critical themes, including:
1. Middle- and upper-class consumerism,
2. Low-cost mass production and planned obsolescence,
3. The social and emotional dynamics of traditional domestic life,
4. Unchecked capitalist greed,
5. Environmental and climate concerns,
6. Patriarchal power structures,
7. The legacy and dilemmas left for future generations, and
8. White American hierarchies.
Through his art, Dohrmann invites viewers to reflect on these pressing issues while engaging with the nostalgia, critique, and transformation present in his assemblages.
