South Prairie Avenue Dumpster Painting

Before fulfilling her childhood dream of attending the Rhode Island School of Design, Betsy took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Young Artists’ Studios program in addition to studying with Chicago imagist Phyllis Bramson at the Evanston Art Center. After graduating from RISD, she lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands where she had a solo photography exhibit featuring gritty B&W NYC photos that are a precursor to her site-specific work. In the last three decades, van Die has exhibited her work widely in exhibits throughout the U.S. and abroad, with paintings, sculptures and photography in public and private collections. She incorporates references to pop culture, architecture, and history in her work. The hidden beauty of urban decay and peeling facades is a source of inspiration. All of van Die's work reflects the fleeting passage of time, ephemeral nature of life and strong desire to capture this for posterity. Her site-specific series is an extension of her urban photography, combining photographic images with objects recovered from the site in mixed media works on canvas. Her shadow boxes are influenced by the work of Joseph Cornell and cabinets of curiosity. She incorporates vintage paper ephemera, objects and gemstones collected over the years with paint, fabric and colored pencils in small-scale thematic works.