Carol Diehl, "All These Things That I've Done," 2008
oil on panel, 15 x 23"
At Art Vent, artist/writer Carol Diehl articulates why writing is an important part of the process for many artists. "For me, it’s through being forced to describe something that I learn what it is and what I really think about it. In fact this is why I write about art at all, because I wouldn’t engage in such a detailed exercise on my own. It’s how I learn, and it’s how I teach students to write about art. In fact I think everyone studying any aspect of the arts should be required to take art writing, not so they can better write their theses or that noxious item we call the artist’s statement, but because through writing description you learn to observe what’s outside—and inside—you. And no matter what the endeavor—be it art, bricklaying, dentistry or cooking—observation is everything." I couldn't agree more.
Besides working as a contributing editor at Art in America, Diehl has used words, numbers and symbols to record the events of her life on canvas in dense painterly formats that marry the literal with the abstract. One-person exhibitions of her work include those at Gary Snyder Fine Art in 2002, and Hirschl & Adler Modern in 1996 and 1998. Check out more of Diehl's paintings here.