Diana Arcadipone
“Much of my technique incorporates traditional crafts with painting and works on paper, paying homage to my love of natural materials, textiles, storytelling, folk art, and primitive art. I hope my work inspires appreciation, awareness and protection of our natural environment”. Diana Arcadipone creates artworks on and of paper. Her passion for making art with natural materials, and mixed media emerged from an early devotion to craft techniques such as papermaking, book arts, basketry, embroidery and textiles. Arcadipone’s work is informed by primitive art, folk art, traveling, and the natural environment; it is the intersection of these influences that defines her work. Diana Arcadipone often makes her own paper with archival materials. She paints with gouache, which offers brilliant, opaque washes of color. She often incorporates ink, text, and fabric scraps that are applied with rudimentary tools like handmade brushes and sticks. She uses traditional embroidery techniques to enhance color and line elements. She often incorporates a narrative that reflects on the habitat of the animal depicted. Diana Arcadipone studied painting and printmaking at Western Michigan University, where she earned a BFA degree with honors. She earned an MFA degree from Ohio University with honors. She has been awarded artist residencies at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in Temecula, California as well as The Banff Centre and the Leighton Artists’ Colony in Alberta, Canada. She has been awarded many grants and has exhibited work internationally and travels and researches artmaking techniques globally.