Artist Statement

“I am inspired by my love of the natural landscape and its relationship with the elements that shape it.  In my paintings, I want to translate and transform the visible world into an abstract composition which holds true to the subject.”

As a regular exhibitor at national art competitions Diana Tapping’s work has gained international status and her paintings hang in many private and public collections.  Working both on location and in her Surrey based studio, Diana’s work has a freshness and immediacy that invites the viewer to share her experience of being in nature.

Her paintings begin with a series of walking drawings, in which she uses all her senses to collect information about her environment, responding to the often transient nature of light, colour, weather and texture.  These contemplative observations are crucial in helping Diana find her place in the landscape and create work that is a personal, honest response to the natural world. Subsequently, her paintings are highly atmospheric and evocative.

Found objects and sourced materials also play a significant role in connecting with a place. Soil from a coastal cliff, alabaster dust from a sculptor’s studio floor –for Diana, each is loaded with memories and can conjure the atmosphere of a specific place. In her latest work, sourced materials such as marble dust and earth have been incorporated into the paintings’ surface, creating not only richly textured work, but also an exciting and direct link to the physical landscape.

Diana’s working ethos is one fuelled by curiosity and a desire to explore.  Her paintings are proof of an artist who relishes experimenting with surface qualities, textures, materials and colours. Reworking and building up layers of paint and varying materials avoids complacency and allow her paintings to constantly evolve, and for new possibilities to be discovered.

“To me, painting is an exploratory journey: my work is subject to continual change, driven by what happens when the paint is applied to the canvas. I do not have a preconceived idea of how the finished painting will look – as soon as I make the mark, or place the colour, then the painting has its own life and makes its own demands.”