Artist Series 018 | Diandra Stithe
A Conversation with Diandra Stithe
MS: Tell us a bit about where you’re from, where you’ve been, and how you began working in the arts?
DS: I’m from Las Vegas but relocated to San Diego 7 years ago. My experience with art started primarily with photography; I grew up very obsessed with images, the internet, and computers. It all felt like magic to me, and it was super accessible and easy to learn. I also loved the intimacy of taking photos of people. I transitioned into painting in 2020, during the quarantine. At that time I wanted an escape from digital life. I transitioned to painting largely because of the process. I really love the physicality and patience that painting requires.
MS: How would you explain your style / approach to painting?
DS: Since my first medium was photography, I tend to start with a rather composed photograph, or a variety of different references mashed together. I paint images in a pretty representational way, but omit details, make things up, simplify, and use color to dramatize things. I love how tactile, out of context, and alive a painting can be.
MS: Do you have a process you consistently follow or does it change from work to work?
DS: I follow a pretty rote process when it comes to painting. I start with an underpainting of forms and values, and then build up layer by layer into color and finer details. I like this process because I get to watch the painting come to life, it also goes through a very ugly puberty stage which is always fun(horrible). My process for coming up with painting ideas is usually sparked by a sort of ephemeral experience I want to capture, like the feeling of plunging into a cold pool on a hot hot day; textures like dry, sharp, soft, or hard.
MS: Who & what inspires you?
DS: My cat, Chad, who is always beautifully lounging, my friends who are all so creative, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, people-watching, my girlfriend Eliza, Audre Lorde, Walter Benjamin, the dusty pinks and blues of little post-apocalyptic feeling desert towns, the movie Coraline, and Thom Yorke.
MS: Could you talk about your upcoming installation?
DS: My installation “A Long Walk on a Hot Day”, is a series of paintings of the place I grew up, Las Vegas. The paintings feature intensely blue skies, chalky yellows, deep red, and dark negative space. Some of the paintings are almost overwhelmingly saturated with color and details, and some are kind of simple and underdeveloped, bland even. The light seems overexposed and hot. The largest painting is nearly just a desert landscape, but there is an explosion right in the middle. It feels oddly quiet and mundane. There is a somewhat intimate portrait of my friend drenched in pink light. Las Vegas is often a representation of the worst machinations of capitalism; greed, excess, superficiality, the commodification of all things. Through this painting series I argue that Las Vegas is, at the very least, honest about what it is.
MS: Do you feel any connection between how you consume coffee and how you experience art?
DS: Definitely, because in order for me to experience anything I need coffee first. But caffeine dependency aside, I do think a well made cup of coffee is an art form. I love when a coffee shop is paying attention to all the little details like aroma, temperature, texture; the same way I get to notice the texture and details of a painting or a song. I love things that have been so clearly touched by a human hand.
MS: What do you hope people take away from your work?
DS: I hope people find a little joy, comfort, or humor in it.
Opening reception of "A Long Walk On A Hot Day" will take place at our North Park Cafe August 14th, 5pm-8pm
Order the exclusive coffee release here