Diana Nicholson-Plank

Having strangers stand before my work with joy, wonder and more than once, tears in their eyes is a feeling there are no words for. For a stranger to be able to truly ‘connect’ with my work reinforces in me that I am finally beginning to understand.

Winning the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Arts Canterbury Art Show 2022 was a moment of surreal affirmation that after 30+ years, I am finally beginning to find my artistic voice. (I’m a lot like Mainland Cheese, good things take time.) I also won the Darfield Artweek People’s Choice award in October 2022.

About my work…

Inspiration lies in the decrepit, the time worn - in ephemeral glimpses of unexpected juxtapositions within time & space; in the surreal world of dreams.

Diverse & complimentary opposites transcend my work… the humorous & profound; natural & constructed; unanswered questions, unfinished stories…

Questions raised at the intersection of conflicting worlds. Glimpses in time to be deciphered through the filter of our private memories, imagination & dreams.

Catch and release - moments in time…

My journey…

I studied painting full time in 1993 and moved to Christchurch in 1996. I earned my BA in Spatial Design in 1999; Dip. Interior Design 2000.

Teaching at the Design & Arts College in Christchurch ignited in me a love of teaching teaching but not so much the bureaucracy of the job. So, in 2016 I did the only reasonable thing I could think of - I left my job and built my own wee Art School, Discoveries.

Now, I’m living the dream, painting day after day and teaching Art to beautiful humans - surrounded by a menagerie of furry friends at the base of the hills of Banks Peninsula - I’m like the proverbial pig in mud.

Working in mixed media, acrylics and oils, I explore both traditional oil techniques and more contemporary methodology to produce pieces I hope are both evocative and meaningful.

With works held in collections in both NZ and Australia, I sell mostly through art shows, commissions and mail list. And at the beautiful Forfar Street Gallery in Roxburgh, Central Otago.