The Daily Muse: Terri Dilling, Painter and Printmaker

Terri Dilling is a painter and printmaker, inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Her work evokes a landscape or garden, but also the microscopic worlds contained within. Terri received a BA from Indiana University, a BFA Georgia State University, and has also studied visual arts in England, Spain, and Italy. Travels abroad have been very influential on her work. After being awarded a 2005 residency at the Caversham Centre in South Africa, she revived printmaking in her own practice, and was also inspired to become more active in her community. She joined the effort to found the Atlanta Printmakers Studio, and currently serves as president.

Terri has received numerous grants and awards, including two Center for Chemical Evolution project grants, Art on the Beltline project grants, a Hambidge Center Residency Fellowship, and an Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs collaborative artist grant. She has been featured in a variety of publications including Studio Visit Magazine, New American Paintings, and FORM: Artistic Independence. Her work is in many collections around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Fulton County Arts Council, Fidelity Investments (Boston), UPS (Atlanta), Four Seasons Hotel (Marrakech, Morocco), Conrad Hilton (Hong Kong), JW Marriott (Ankara, Turkey), and ANA Okayama Hotel (Okayama, Japan). Terri is represented in Atlanta by Mason Murer Fine Art.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My art practice is a way of creating visual worlds and finding a sense of balance within them. It mirrors the way I attempt to find balance in my own life. Through painting and printmaking, I construct a sense of order and connection between different elements, allowing for part control and part surprise in my processes.

I look at a variety of forms and patterns found in nature, being particularly drawn to plants and flowers that signify an ephemeral quality of life. My work evokes a landscape or garden, but also the microscopic worlds contained within. I am interested in scientific perspectives and fascinated by the concept that physical matter is mostly empty space, comprised of smaller particles constantly in motion. Round shapes and dots in my work make reference to tiny atoms as well as flowers, even planetary systems. Boundaries are blurred between micro and macro realms, and between representation and abstraction. Drips and lines create a sense of movement and energy. I am interested in the metaphoric possibilities of a painting as a kind of psychic and emotional landscape and the way it reflects a visual history of the process of its creation.

My focus over the years has been on drawing, painting and printmaking, exploring different combinations of these things. I have also expanded with video, collaboration, installation, and public art projects. These endeavors stimulate new ideas and new methods that feed back into my studio practice in a variety of meaningful ways.

To learn more about Terri Dilling or to see more of her amazing body of work, follow any of the links below.