Dianna Rivera - Abstract Artist
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” - Vincent Van Gogh
Dianna Rivera is a mixed Indigenous Boriken artist who specializes in contemporary oil pieces inspired by her ancestry, the complexities and joys of being human, as well as ancestral folklore and mythology. With no formal education, Dianna spent over seventeen years educating herself in a variety of ways from reading, working with mentors to taking courses online and attending workshops in person. However, she didn't decide to pursue painting professionally until the Spring of 2018, where she had two of her first exhibitions later that year, both in Norway; Stampen in Oslo, and the Kulturhus in Hamar.
Her style went through a major shift when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease the following year and during the COVID pandemic of 2020, she dedicated her time at home to evolving her skill and style further up until very recently where she introduced oil pastels and found a whole new passion, alongside her usual oil paints. She's had two more exhibitions so far this year, both virtually, with Visionary Projects, based in New York City and The Royal Blue Gallery in London.She gains inspiration from her ancestry, mostly, being of mixed heritage, Native American, Welsh and Scottish, Iberian, French and West African and the stories and myths that come from her ancestral teachings.