Artist Biography
Diane Balsley is an American artist who contrasts elements of realism with surrealism and abstraction through her manipulations of paint, collage and digital media. Her compositions convey feelings of whimsy with elements of surprise.
From an early age, she demonstrated her innate artistic talent and her curiosity led her to depict images from alternate perspectives. She is currently exploring data manipulation through photography and pseudorandom processes.
Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and is included in many private and public collections.
Artist Statement
I found myself mesmerized by the poor reception in the glitching television when I stayed at a friend’s apartment. The images were at once frustrating, but yet had a sense of beauty from the random stalls and distortions. I began to wonder how I could capture the surprises and the same feeling of distorted beauty in my own artwork.
I began to explore ways to recreate the surge of information by using digital media and distorting the data through various processes. The challenge was to see beyond obvious images and to capture distractions using vibrant colors and an excess of information.
When I reflect on the distortions, I cannot help but make a parallel to our own conditions as we navigate the changing environment and the distortions of political exceptions. Our senses struggle to comprehend and interpret what we see.
I started to use encaustic media for some images and found the layering of wax enhanced the disclarity in a subtle way. I was able to combine various media with melted wax which allowed for random textures and obscurity through the layers. I continue to experiment with that.
My ideas are ever evolving. I use photography to capture moments and I have explored various media to enable explorations to represent, to misinterpret, to distort, or to manipulate. I want some of the work to have an intensity and a random, haphazard quality in spite of my controlled efforts.
My curiosity is ever evolving.