Diane Bronstein
And soon the darkness,,,
Vintage photo, embroidery floss on stretched canvas
13.5" h x 25.5" w x 1" d
2018
$1000
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Description: My work focuses on bringing the past into the future. Using only embroidery thread and vintage photo collage, I imagine nature striving to overcome our man-made world. My method is to work the thread into the photo paper and only using knots, creating a painterly appearance.
Artist Statement
I am intrigued by the constant battle of nature and our built world. Every item that we create is destined to disappear, even if it takes millenia.
Our urban and suburban landscapes change dramatically in a few short years if left to their own fate. My work is based on interpreting what deterioration might occur in a man-made space. Rather than photograph actual deteriorating spaces, sometimes referred to as "ruin porn", I use vintage or original photos and embroider flora, rocks, water, fire and other natural elements and reactions onto the photograph.
As we deplete our natural resources, produce materials that take forever to biodegrade or blindly refuse to believe we have an affect on nature, we are destroying our world. Nature is opportunistic and will rush to fill in any void left by our negligence and ignorance. My work explores the world in these vintage and original black and white photos with an additional layer of color, texture and meaning by changing the narrative.
Bio
Diane Bronstein is originally from Pittsburgh. She majored in Graphic Design and Illustration at Carnegie-Mellon University earning a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts. She moved to Boston “for the summer” but stayed for 30 years having married and raising two sons there. She worked in advertising, marketing, corporate communications and publishing before entering the museum field.
Diane began working at the Museum of Science in Boston in 1999 as a graphic designer in the Exhibits Department where created signage and marketing materials for hundreds of traveling, temporary and permanent exhibits. She worked there until 2013 when her family relocated to Texas.
In 2010, she began hand sewing paper lingerie from her figure drawings. This work was exhibited in numerous juried gallery shows around the country. In 2012, she developed and curated a nationally touring exhibit, Underneath it all: Desire, power, memory & lingerie. Featuring the work of eleven women artists from around the U.S who create art based on the meanings of lingerie in our society. The show travelled to five venues. Bronstein was an Artist-in-Residence at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff during the run of Underneath it all. During this time, she lectured on the history of lingerie, lead public workshops, taught in local schools, gallery talks, and open studio hours in the gallery.
In 2016, Diane began to experiement with embroidering vintage photos that she found in antique stores, yard sales and other sources. She created a number of pieces which have been shown in galleries and museums around the country. She loved the application of colorful thread on black and white photos. With thousands on knots, Diane creates three dimensions from two dimensional surfaces.