Diana Copperwhite (born 1969) is an Irish painter. She is a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, an elite Irish association of artists.

Early life

Copperwhite was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in 1969. She grew up in

Patrickswell Patrickswell, historically known as Toberpatrick (), is a small town in County Limerick, Ireland. It is primarily a commuter village for people working in Limerick, particularly the nearby industrial suburb of Raheen. The population was 847 at ...

. Her father, Patrick Copperwhite, was a science teacher and self-taught artist who exhibited at the Oriel Gallery.

Career

Copperwhite studied at

Limerick School of Art and Design The Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD; ga, Scoil Ealaíne Agus Deartha Luimnigh) is a constituent art college of the Technological University of the Shannon, located in Limerick, Ireland. The school operates on three of TUS: Midwest's ...

, the

National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...

(NCAD, Dublin) and

Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History The Winchester School of Art was founded in 187 ...

. Copperwhite is chiefly known for her work in

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

; art critic Gail Levin says that her work "creates an exquisite tension between abstraction and figuration or

representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

of any kind. ��vibrating

spectral bands Spectral bands are parts of the electromagnetic spectrum of specific wavelengths, which can be filtered by a standard filter. In nuclear physics, spectral bands are referred to the emission of polyatomic systems, including condensed materials, larg ...

have become a kind of a trademark in Copperwhite’s recent large paintings ��Copperwhite believes that in her paintings she has responded to Ireland’s changeable weather, which may have caused her to see the world as if she was looking through a visor into a “grey low-light vision." She has also named 1960s

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

album covers An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

as inspiration. She lives and works in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She has lectured at NCAD,

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

and the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

; she was elected to

in 2021. Her work is on permanent exhibition at the

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...

Limerick City Gallery of Art Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA; ga, Gailearaí Ealaíon Chathair Luimní) is an art museum in the city of Limerick, Ireland. It is run by Limerick City Council and is located in Pery Square, in the Newtown Pery area of the city. The galle ...

and

Áras an Uachtaráin (; "Residence of the President"), formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of Ireland. It is located off Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. The building design was credite ...

(the residence of the President of Ireland).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copperwhite, Diana Irish women painters Aosdána members Artists from County Limerick Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Alumni of Limerick Institute of Technology Members of the Royal Hibernian Academy 20th-century Irish painters 21st-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish women artists 21st-century Irish women artists Living people 1969 births