Winter Salon 2024

ARTIST STATEMENT
After art school, a fellowship year in Paris was deeply formative. Particularly inspiring was Degas' innovative blending of classical realism with the radical composition techniques he found in Japanese Ukiyo-e prints. Inspired by his strong yet flexible style of figurative realism, I began experimenting with flattened planes or compressed space instead of traditional perspective; asymmetrical design in shape, line and negative space; and unexpected cropping. This approach continues in my work today, engaging the dynamic tension between realism and abstraction-- a duality I view as complementary rather than contradictory. While my images are grounded in realism, mixed media weave unpredictability into deliberate process and contexts often remain ambiguous. Through this aesthetic of contingency, I am interested in challenging fixed narratives and valorizing uncertainty in the dance between order and chaos that moves all life forward.

BIO
Diane Rosen studied at l’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris on a French Government Painting Fellowship, and at the Art Students League and National Academy School of Fine Art in New York. Her multiple award-winning work has been exhibited in Manhattan at the National Arts Club, Salmagundi Club, and Broome Street Gallery among others; at Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Art du Pastel en Normandie Salons d'International, France; and locally at Lagstein Gallery, the Hopper House, and Pomona Cultural Center. Rosen’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including Pure Color: The Best of Pastel; The Pastel Journal; and American Artist Magazine. She is an elected Master Pastelist of the Pastel Society of America, and is listed in Who's Who in American Art. Rosen lives and works in Nyack, NY.