Darian Goldin Stahl

Darian Stahl’s Artist Statement

The inspiration for my recent work began to take form when I took a course last spring titled, “Botany and Anatomy in the Renaissance,” which inspired me to create art about the false assumptions held by scientists before the Renaissance, the style and subjects of art during this period, and the often gory medical procedures that led to scientific discovery. I combine traditional thoughts of botany and anatomy from the 2nd through the 17th centuries with how these scientific ideas could be interpreted in contemporary methods of art making.

I use many different forms of printmaking and often overlap media. I primarily use lithography and collagraphy to give my art rich blacks and contrast, which compliment the often macabre and startling imagery I present. I also work with photography in the photopolymer plates to illustrate scientific experiments that exhibit altered-realism. Recently, I have started to combine my plates into collages that transform the images into something new entirely. I enjoy this layering of literal and imaginary imagery that can lead the viewer to several different conclusions about what my art is depicting.

Most of the pieces in this portfolio illustrate a literal story of discovery or experimentation performed by a great scientist in history, since disproven or not. Another of the main themes of my work is “inside versus outside,” that is, the unfolding the body, showing x-rays, and abstracting the parts of the body to show something new and unexpected. It is my goal is to create visually satisfying and beautiful prints while incorporating historical, medical, and at times, grotesque imagery. Most of my pieces are illustrations of precise theories or procedures, but I am also moving in the direction of adding my own thoughts and abstractions on anatomy—a course I plan on continuing next semester and in graduate studies.