Diane Britt: "The Jewish Works"
Show Statement
“This exhibition speaks to retrospection, looking back on almost 20 years of my work through the lenses given to me by Jewish themes, imagery, and historical and personal experiences. From my bubbe’s dramatic and intimate tales of shtetl life at the end of the 19th century to the Holocaust, from a contemporary Yom Kippur liturgy and the text of the Torah to the ancient folktales about the golem, all has gone into injecting our rich cultural content into my drawings, sculptural work, artist books, and installations. This marriage of the personal with the historical has sometimes been a difficult one, but ultimately fertile, often woven together through storytelling, my own and others.” Britt’s work utilizes unusual materials, methods, and ways to use visual and written language, reflecting her hunger for knowledge, new experiences, and new skills. She uses fiber and textiles, altered book elements, natural materials, and trash to explore artmaking potential and surface design.
Artist Bio
Diane Britt, an artist based in Birmingham, Ohio, engages in paper and book arts, sculpture, and drawing. Having received her early education in Boston, she explored artistic realms through associations like The World Sculpture Racing Society. Diane holds a B.A. in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She actively participates in the arts community through Art Books Cleveland, the Morgan Conservatory of Papermaking, and the Jewish Art Salon. Diane’s recent exhibitions include showcasing her work in “Down on Paper” at the Vestige Concept Gallery in Pittsburgh, participating in the 8th International Triennial of Artist’s Books, and contributing to the 2022 Paper on Skin gala, exhibition, and film held in Tasmania.
