Dianne Hoffman
mixed media assemblage artist of recycled and salvaged materials
Artist Bio
Dianne is a self taught mixed media artist with a primary focus in found objects and recycled materials mingled with collage, paint and clay. Her work conveys nostalgic stories with impactful sentiment. She was born and raised in the suburbs of Southern California and moved North to become a resident of San Francisco in 1988. The City by the Bay, with its loving embrace of everything extraordinary and endless resource of possibilities, came to cultivate and nurture her creative impulses. She has been a full time artist of salvaged and repurposed components since 2010 with work found in collections worldwide including Hong Kong, Australia, Africa, Europe and throughout the continental U.S. Dianne maintains an abundant workspace at Arc Studios and Gallery in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco where she hosts a monthly Collage meet-up of mixed media makers and bi-annually teaches workshops to aspiring students of Assemblage.
Artist Statement
I have a tendency to personify inanimate objects and feel genuine compassion for those that are damaged or disregarded. I see potential in broken bits and find beauty in rust and erosion. The older an object, the more haunting and alluring its ghost. Assemblage art allows me to indulge these concepts by creating dimensional worlds of allegory where tall tales are told, jokes are cracked, emotions stirred, and poems imparted.
My treasure hunt is rummaging through thrift shops, flea markets, re-use centers, garage sales, junkyards, attics and basements for precious baubles, bits and boxes. Sometimes an inspired idea will come upon first sight of an object. But more often I will mull through my neatly organized piles of arbitrary things repetitively placing random items together until something visually clicks and the piece takes hold.
I like to link organic objects from nature with industrial and figurative remnants by combining complementary muted color schemes to harmonize dissimilar media. The narrative facet of each piece often derives from the variety of music I am listening to, a phrase that strikes me, or a sentiment I’d like to give a visual context to. My intent is to portray a delicate balance between light and dark by depicting the sincerity found in their unified stories.