Diane Szczepaniak

"Phenomenology of Form”

In my abstract painting and sculpture, I strive to move away from a human-centered world, into one populated entirely by objects composed of form and space. I refer to my paintings and sculptures as places. There, the forms are free of the use value we assign to objects in the world around us. Rather than fulfilling human needs, or even catering to the symbolic or allegorical imagination, these forms exist independently of us, and draw the viewer into their space. They come alive on their own. To meaningfully fill space, they must become space, composed of dimension and acquiring their own fullness of being. This way, the forms exist not as potential objects, but as something that can hold and reveal the essence of being.

BIOGRAPHY 2017

Diane Szczepaniak has been recognized throughout the East Coast for her abstract paintings and sculptures. Since the age of twenty-three, Szczepaniak has been driven by the study of the dynamics of form. Initially focused on drawing and sculpting the figure, she worked through these media to an understanding of the physicality of objects in space, which has remained with her throughout her career and brought her directly to abstraction. Using this understanding of s...

M.A., Art & Aesthetic Education, University of Cincinnati, 1983
B.F.A., Sculpture and Drawing, Northern Kentucky University, 1980
Welding Certification, Northern Kentucky Vocational/Technical School, 1981
Sculpture and Drawing Studio of Michael Skop, Master Sculptor (assistant of Ivan Mestrovic), Kentucky, 1978-81
B.A., Economics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1978

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 The Box Project, Adkins Arboretum, Ridgely, MD Curator: Mary and Howard McCoy
2017 Color and Light, Gibbs Street Gallery, VisArts, Rockville, MD
2005 Inbetweenness, Black Rock Arts Center, Germantown, MD
2002 In Pursuit of Form, Xavier University Art Gallery, Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH
1998 Watercolors, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Washington, DC
1997 Abstracted Space, Arts Club of Washington, Washington, D.C.
1984 & 1985 Painting and Sculpture, Merchant’s Gallery, Inc. Co-op, Cincinnati, OH
1981 The Figure, S.S. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake, MI

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Strictly Painting 12, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
2019 Chance Encounters, InLiquid.org for Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Freedom: Art is the Messenger, Cato Institute, Washington, DC (Awarded 2nd prize)
2019 Powerfully Quiet, Sense Gallery, Washington, DC
2019 Waverly Street Gallery Invitational, Bethesda, MD invited by Stephane Themeze
2019 Night, Mansion at Strathmore, N. Bethesda, MD juror: Adah Rose Bitterbaum and Erwin Timmers
2018 Micro-Monuments: Underground, International Arts at Artists at Hillyer, Washington DC
2018 Artists in Dialogue with the Lands...