Diane Masters
Diane Masters is an Australian artist who graduated with a Fine Arts Degree in painting and printmaking from the University of Tasmania, School of Fine Arts. She followed that with a Masters degree in Fine Arts and Design specialising in printmaking.
Diane is a multi-media artist, living in Hobart, Tasmania, who works primarily as a printmaker.
She regularly uses natural elements as the basis for her multi-layered prints.
Her images are often drawn from her experience of living and working in small rural and remote communities. These experiences range from rural Tasmania to tropical Christmas Island and more recently, to smaller isolated islands such as Maatsuyker Island in Tasmania’s South West and Deal Island in the Bass Strait.
Diane is enthusiastic about using visual arts as another way of communicating human impact on, interconnectedness with, and dependence on, a healthy environment.
www.dianemasters.id.au // www.handmark.com.au
Rescue, recycling, renewal (NAT Art Residence - 09/2025)
Residential Experience, Tagle, Cantabria 2025
Excited by the prospect of visiting paleolithic caves of Spain as part of this residency, I was wondering how this experience would relate to my experience of visiting and viewing petroglyphs and paintings of Australian first nations people from the Kimberley region in Australia, some dating back as far as 40,000 years.
All the sites are living testimony of the continued human pursuit of meaning and connection through art.
I recognised that these stories, especially within the Australian context, are not my stories to tell but hoped that I could find a way to continue a dialogue between ancient art and present art practice.
So, who am I? What is my personal experience?
Born on the island state of Tasmania
In the island continent of Australia
Lived, worked, studied and played
On even smaller islands
Consider Christmas Island
Cocos and Keeling Islands
Maria and Maatsuyker Islands
Bruny and Deal Islands
Strong affinity with the ocean
Above and below.
My project: Rescue, recycling, renewal 2025.
"A handmade bowl is already social" – a quote from Octavio Paz.
Having lived so close to the ocean, it felt only natural to begin my exploration for this art project at Tagle Beach. I have always been deeply troubled by the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans and the devastating impact it has on marine life and the environment. It’s hard to reconcile that we humans have created a material that lasts forever, yet we treat it as disposable—using it once and then throwing it away.
My beach fossicking soon began, and what a haul it was! Each day brought new discoveries—some days more abundant than others—and with each find, the idea of creating vessels from my collections began to take shape. I wanted to craft something aesthetically pleasing, yet thought-provoking—artworks that draw attention to the reality of what ends up in our oceans, and the urgent need to reduce plastic consumption, recycle wherever possible, and reuse rather than discard.
During one of my daily trips, I paused by the cliff face and noticed the shape of a long-necked lizard emerging from the rock contours—my first connection to ancient cave art, where early artists used natural lines and cracks to define the forms of animals. Inspired, I began sketching the surrounding landscape in my journal.
On the way home, I gathered fallen pine needles to weave into a bowl. I learned that the charcoal used in prehistoric cave paintings was made exclusively from pine wood—my second connection to those early artists. Working with the short needles was a challenge, but it felt like a natural extension of my exploration.
Thus, my project was born: to create vessels using materials collected from nature—some organic, some discarded waste—to reflect the tension between beauty, creativity, and the consequences of our consumption.
Click on the images for a full view
