Diane Churchill
The artist lives and works in the Hudson River Valley. An abstract painter, she attempts to harness the power of color with acrylic and oil paint, oil and chalk pastels, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas and paper. She has a strong interest in the symbolic use of iridescent pigments, primarily gold. Gold is used for its optical excitement as well as a reference to something precious or otherworldly. Another dominant color is red, a color as strong and life affirming as gold. Many of her works marry red and gold as equal partners aesthetically. She prefers art papers from India, with deckle edges, on which she layers color and embeds marks which appear as asemic writing. Large canvases explore themes related to music.
She studied Art History in college and later attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School and Hunter College for a Masters in Painting. There she studied with Mark Rothko and Leo Steinberg. She has participated in art communities in Manhattan as well as Rockland County. Artists residencies and travel have been a primary source of inspiration and challenge.
StatementI have been fascinated by and working with iridescent gold pigments for some time. The paintings i am submitting are very recent, primarily gold pieces, but with a new interest - an underlying layer of drawing or forms barely making their way to the surface. Thus one is called "Excavation", as though some work is needed to go deeper and see what is underneath. "Blue and Gold" reveals drawn forms in transparent oil pastel underneath which are barely perceptible, but there. I am not sure why this is of such importance to me except that there is always history, in a life, an experience, or a country which informs the current moment or visual appearance.
The other aspect of gold that I love, and must need, is sparkle. The optical effect rushes forward to the viewer. It signifies something precious. The pigment I use is called "Iridescent Gold Deep Fine", and that about says it. While the gold moves forward, it also conveys "deep".
CvSolo Exhibitions
2024 Exhibit January – February, Ned Harris Gallery, Garner Arts Center, Garnerville, NY
2022 Curatorial team for “Seeing Music”, New York Artists Circle digital show, current
2022- 23 Pisticci Restaurant, NYC, Nov. 5, 2022 – Mar. 5, 2023
2021 Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY
2020 Lagstein Gallery, Nyack, NY
2018 Industrial Arts Brewery, Garnerville, NY, “Darkness Breaks”
2017 Hal’s Corner, Nyack, NY
2015 Julio Valdez Project Space, East Harlem, NY, “Day Breaks/Night Opens”
2015 Union Arts Center, Sparkill, NY, “Here Comes the Sun”
2012 Karpeles Museum, Newburgh, NY, “Blue & Other Thoughts”
2010 Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona, NY
2008 GAGA Gallery, Garnerville, NY
2007 Ross-Minard Studio, Katonah, NY
2007 Light on Lyndon Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2005 Donnell Library Gallery, NYC
2004 Soho 20 Chelsea, NYC
2003 Interchurch Center, NYC
1998 Gallery 93, Nyack NY
1994 Gallery 107, Brooklyn, NY
1994 Hopper House, Nyack, NY
1993 California State University, San Luis Obispo
1990 Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters, Princeton, NJ
1988 William Carlos Williams Center Gallery, Rutherford, NJ
1984 Gallery, Saint Peter’s Church, Citicorp Center, NY
Selected Groups Exhibitions
2024. "Heaven and Earth", Belskie Museum, Closter, NJ
2024. "Summer Salon", Perry Lawson Gallery, Nyack, NY
2024. Hopper House Members' Show, Nyack, NY
2023 “Genesis: The Beginning of Creativity”, Jewish Art Salon, Jewish Theological Seminary, June
2023 “Women Celebrate Women”, El Barrio Artspace, March
2022 Flatfile Gallery, 8 x 8, Season 4
2021 “Looking Forward”, Carter Burden Gallery, NYC
2021 El Barrio Project Space, East Harlem, NY, “Women Celebrate Women
2020 Virtual group shows, Sitka Gallery, New York Artists Circle, Hammond Museum, Westchester Art Guild
2019 Piermont Straus Gallery, Piermont, NY
2019 Blue Hill Art & Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY, “Color/Couleur”
2019 Farmstead Arts Center, Basking Ridge, NJ, “Women In the Arts”
2018 95 ½ Main St. Gallery, Nyack, NY, curated by Katie Elevitch
2017/16 Annual Group Show, Soho 20 Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn
2016 Blue Hill Art & Cultural Center, “Plein Aire & Beyond”, Pearl River, NY
2015 Rockefeller Preserve Gallery, Pleasantville, NY, “Pleasures”
2015 Affordable Art Fair, Julio Valdez Booth, New York City
2015 Supreme Court of Brooklyn, NY, Collection of Dorothy White
2014 Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY, “Visionaries”
2014 Soho 20 Gallery, New York City, “Other Side”
2014 University of Knoxville Gallery, Knoxville, Tenn.
2014 See/Me Video exhibit, Miami Basel, Floria
2014 Julio Valdez Project Space, East Harlem, NY
2013/12/11 The Construction Company, New York City
2013 Pierro Gallery, South Orange, NJ, “Captivating Cosmos”
2013 Outside/In, Piermont, NY, “Blue” show
2013/12/11 Gay Pride Benefit & Exhibit, ROCA, West Nyack, NY
2012 40 Years of Women Artists at Douglass Library, virtual exhibit
2012 Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, “Spring Fling”
2010 Art House, Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn, NY
2009 The Bridge Art Fair, Chelsea, NYC
2007 Museo Regional de Michoacan, Mexico
2004 Blue Bench Gallery, Piermont, NY
2002 AIR Anniversary Invitational, NYC
2000 ROCA, West Nyack, NY, “Nine Choose Nine”
Honors
. 2023. El Sur residency, Mexico City, Mexico, July
2019 Macina di San Cresci Residency, Greve, Italy
2016 Gowry Foundation, Kerala India, Artist’s Residency, February
2014 Ora Lerman Foundation Residency, “Soaring Gardens”, Meshoppen, PA
2005 Stevens Traveling Fellow, Wellesley College, for sabbatical painting
2005 Myron M. Kaplan Charitable Directed Fund for sabbatical painting
2001 artist residency, Fundacion Valpariaiso, Mojacar, Spain
1997 Grant, Council on Basic Education, study of mosaic in Morocco
1988 artist residency, Karolyi Foundation, Vence, France
NY
CountryUnited States