Diana Freedman-Shea
Diana Freedman-Shea · Source: New York Artists Circle · Rights retained by the original rights holders
- Medium
- Oil Paint
- Practice
- Painting
New York artist Diana Freedman-Shea grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BFA degree from Pratt Institute and began teaching in the New York City High Schools. She later received her MFA degree from Brooklyn College, a… Full biography
Biography
New York artist Diana Freedman-Shea grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BFA degree from Pratt Institute and began teaching in the New York City High Schools. She later received her MFA degree from Brooklyn College, and pursued a career in painting and printmaking, while teaching full-time.
The teaching schedule allowed her to take advantage of artist residencies at the Millay Colony, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Cummington Center for the Arts, The Woodstock Art School, and Wassard Elea in Cilento, Italy.
She was an art reviewer for 10 years, thoroughly enjoying engagement with other artists and their work. She retired from teaching in 2002 and has devoted herself to making art full-time.
The artist explored representation with an eye to abstraction. Subjects have included endangered animals, cityscapes, and landscapes. The interchange between the human and the natural world and nature upon the fabricated has been her theme.
The artist exhibited work at the Minnesota Museum, The Hammond Museum, The Interchurch Center, The Flinn Gallery, The Albright Knox Museum, The National Zoo, The Bronx Zoo, Kennedy Gallerie NYC, The Triplex Gallery, CCNY, School of Visual Arts Printmakers, Robert Blackburn Artist Portfolio, The Mesa Art Center, The Salmagundi Club, and other venues. She was a President of the New York Society of Women Artists and a member of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors. She has had numerous shows at the Noho Gallery and Prince Street Gallery in Chelsea where she has been a member.
Artist statement
I see my art-making as WHAT and HOW.
As I child I was fascinated by the changes in weather that I saw on the buildings around me from my Brooklyn rooftop. My world then grew larger through travel. My relationship with a very special veterinarian encouraged me to pay more attention to other species and their survival.
I work in the space between realism and abstraction. The ephemera of light, weather, atmosphere, and the forms in landscape and cityscape interest me as well as the search for underlying structure and stability. I am deeply moved by the character and forms of other species, later incorporated into my work. I observe and then organize my perceptions.
