About Diana Heise
Raised in North Hero VT and Newtown CT,
I am a self-proclaimed gypsy,
accrediting my wanderlust to my travel companion uncle.
At age 7 in the airport,
he handed me responsibility of our passports and tickets.
Uncle Bill graciously carried my dolls.
My work uses various mediums
including video, sculpture, photography, sound and performance,
to look at people
curious about our simultaneous sensitivity and strength,
engaged in our methods of living and thinking
fascinated and, at times, overwhelmed in our treatment of one another and the environment.
Lately,
My looking has focused on the human capacity for violence,
from the small quotidian violence of dripping faucets and stray plastic bags,
to the larger contexts of colonialism, war, sexual assault and totalitarianism.
It is my aim to engage dialogues on peacemaking and healing
as I believe deeply in the transformative powers of art making.
My work has been exhibited in galleries and festivals internationally,
including at the Brooklyn Museum, the Film Anthology Archives, Soho20 Chelsea Gallery, Des Moines Art Center, the H&R Block Artspace, Drain and Cinemazzurro, Ancona Italy.
I am a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts,
a Performance Art Fund Grant from the Franklin Furnace Inc.
as well as a Presidential Fellowship at the American University in Cairo.
I am currently a resident artist at The Studios, Inc. in Kansas City, MO. I hold a MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY and a BA in Art History from Vassar College.