‘Yes I Use a Rule” Artist Talk with Diana Cadwallader

Diana Cadwallader, or Ms. C as she is affectionately known, gave an artist talk this afternoon to coincide with the closing of her show — From Celestial Tartans to Mary’s Mantles. It was an absolute pleasure to hear her speak. She began by talking about how we judge the success of ourselves as artists and questioned if the only measures of success are fame and fortune?

It was interesting to learn that her early education took place in a Catholic convent. Her knowledge of the Catholic church, especially the stories of Mary the Blessed Virgin have inspired some of her work. She loved art from an early age, mentioning a piece she made in her early years about the Flight into Egypt bringing her great joy, but her parents encouraged her to pursue other directions so it wasn’t until her 30s that she attended school for art. (This gives me hope for myself. lol)

She earned her Bachelor of Arts at Arizona State University and her Master of Fine Arts at Yale University while in her late 30s and early 40s. During her time at Yale she worked on design projects for non-traditional audiences, mostly along the lines of outreach in the street, such as materials for street working women (prostitutes), and heroin users. She said it was very satisfying but also very difficult.

I think the most important thing I learned from that is that you better listen to your clients. They know best. If you’re using their voice…you can’t push something on top of people. You have to listen to what they want and it often has to be in their language.

Diana talked about struggling to find time for making art, especially after she began to teach. Making art is a compulsion for her and she began to feel sick from it’s absence in her life, so to help herself find time for it she gave herself lots of limitations. One day she took a very small piece from a magazine and enlarged it. She made it deeper and changed the colors a bit, and considered it a translation of sorts. She analyzed the piece for a bit and began to wonder what straight lines would look like and then proceeded to explore the possibilities. Playing with different formal solutions such as overlapping lines and shapes, color, shape, implying movement and so on. She then began to focus on the potential emotional weight that could be achieved in her work.

I have to make art. It’s a compulsion.

She talked about the inspiration and history behind quite a few of her pieces, including Forest — inspired by a primeval forest in Poland, one of the few standing original forest in the whole of Europe.

For me, artwork has a backstory.

Her father was a pilot in Tanzania when she was very young. He was an air survey pilot so her childhood home was always full of maps. She did a couple of pieces that are imaginary maps of forests from the perspective of looking down (squiggly lines). She mentioned that she didn’t like the squiggly lines at first so she switched to drawing with her left hand to get a less refined quality and was much happier with the result.

Her work is inspired by many things: the colors she sees in nature, the sky before night, fabrics, medieval manuscripts such as The Book of Hours, and the story of Mary Mother of God. She loves words and chooses her titles carefully. Many of her titles have a poetic ring to them such as ‘for every bird that ever flew,’ and ‘for every flower that ever grew.’ I’m a big fan of good names, whatever the subject, and particularly liked: Map: Between Earth and Sky (also probably my personal favorite piece), Light Before Night, and Pleasant Valley, Happy is He Who Knows the Country Gods.

Diana is currently creating work inspired by The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and on a series about a voyage in the north sea.

I like old walls and old spirits. They have stories for me. …I’m also fascinated by very cold places. There’s something cold, pure, and frightening about them.

She closed by saying: Have I been a success as an artist? I’ve found my magic. I have loved to make these things. I have learned a lot about myself. Because if you find out what you like you find out who you are.’

Hearing Ms. C speak reminded me of how lucky I was to have her as my professor during undergrad. She wasn’t the sort of professor to assign a project and lead you down her own direction, she questioned and challenged all of us to really think about what we were trying to do and why, and to come up with our own solutions. She also wasn’t afraid to hurt our feelings (lol). I would love to be continuing my graduate studies with her but I am happy to see her looking so happy and making amazing art.