My recent work is an exploration of the fundamental emotions of fear, loss, melancholy, and the search for safety. The work visits shadowy places that represent the dark, untamed parts of thought and memory. There is value in visiting these mysterious and chaotic places. They are a source of power, imagination, and deep personal identity.
The paintings, drawings, and prints visualize worlds saturated with intense feeling and suggest an emotional architecture that resonates from childhood to old age. The play of light and shadow animates the layers of psychological drama and manipulates the perception of time. Through the use of metaphor, the work gives the illusion of safety on a journey to dark places.
TECHNIQUE
My pictures are made using transparent layers of traditional materials. My drawings and paintings are done on paper, board, or mylar, in layers of graphite, inks, acrylic, and oil paint.
The techniques employed in my recent work challenge the boundaries of traditional painting, drawing, and collage practice. I am currently creating acrylic paintings over a mixed media under-painting. The process includes sculpture, pencil lead and colored ink drawings, photographic textures, digital technology, and acrylic paint. Pencil sketches are developed in conjunction with sculptures that lead to sepia drawings and small color studies. The ink drawings are scanned into the computer and digitally refined with layers of photographic textures. The images are then printed out as under-paintings over which acrylic paintings are rendered. The use of multiple layers of collage and paint mirrors the multidimensional qualities of the psychological drama that the paintings themselves depict.
My recent work explores a new form of collage, challenges the process of drawing, reinterprets the boundaries of old and new techniques, while it tests established styles and popular aesthetics.
BIOGRAPHY
Donna Diamond was born and raised in New York City. She attended Boston University School of Fine and Applied Art and received a BFA in sculpture. Encouraged by Robert Blackburn, she pursued printmaking at the Printmaking Workshop and exhibited at the AIR Gallery. Ms. Diamond also creates art for books, where her work has met with critical success.
Her recent work explores the boundaries of painting and collage and incorporates the use of modern technology. Fascinated by the power of narrative, she recently completed a suite of seventeen paintings that work sequentially to express a psychological drama. These paintings will be published as a book called The Shadow in 2010. She is currently working at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop creating portfolios of prints.
In 2008 Ms. Diamond received the BRIO Award from The Bronx Council on the Arts. Galleries and museums she has exhibited at include The Washington Printmakers Gallery, The Longwood Art Gallery, The Pen and Brush, The Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, The Francesca Anderson Gallery, The Justin Schiller Gallery, The Brockton Museum, and The Society of Illustrators.
