“I make art as a form of healing, to bring love and attention to the preciousness of all living beings; to inspire engaging, emotionally resonant environments, and breathe fresh air into the interior space. The fresco images honor ageless, timeless beauty, and reveal nature’s universal gifts, like ancient, layered love notes, reminding us of what truly matters.

My mixed-media approach to fine art integrates a unique form of photography, which I have referred to as fresco photography since 2004. I superimpose textural elements with natural, architectural, sculptural and cultural scenes, building depth and translucency, with layer upon layer, interweaving photographic, painting and collage elements. Each contemporary image becomes part of my palette, until the patina of depth, colors, shapes and textures take form, transporting me into an imaginative realm, until I recognize a visceral impression, that gives me a sense of completion.

I have been developing fine art and fresco photography, originally inspired during my two decade sojourn in Italy. It was the old-world, impression of time, the muted light, colors, the mystery behind the peeling walls, that sense of awe when standing in front of ancient, fresco paintings that gave me the impetus to recreate that sensibility in my art, but to do it in a more modern way, and integrating contemporary scenes with an old world patina. Since returning to California in 2016, I find myself incorporating more painting, collage and natural scenes into my fresco images, partly due to my access to the wonder and beauty of nature, and because of my deepening engagement in biophilic art and design.”

Diane Epstein