I’m honored to interview Ms. Diana Riesco-Lind as the first artist in my new series, “The Artist’s Story.” Ms. Riesco-Lind is a multidisciplinary artist whose mission is to create empathy between people through their connection to the earth. Born in Peru’s Amazon region in a family created by migration, her background infuses her art and the choices she has taken in her art practice. The media she uses embodies different perspectives and experiences that evoke a range of feelings in the viewer.

Ms. Riesco-Lind uses freestyle embroidery and ceramics with local Amazon clay to take on topics related to female experiences and nature as female. Using video or digital formats, she explores the topics of migration, and personal and collective experiences. In her more recent work, she has chosen material that is more rooted in her family heritage, combining influences from Peru, Sweden, and the USA.

Ms. Riesco-Lind creates experiences for different people and other artists to experiment with the land that is closest to her, the Amazon Basin and, in particular, the Ucayali region of Perú. These experiences are through the cultural association, Centro Selva Arte y Ciencia, that she created in 2012.  Every August, she takes the participants to investigate and get to know the region’s different cultures and social and natural aspects. This process leads the participants to create art, and exhibit and talk about their work to the local public.   

Creating and nurturing the residency experience is a continuous source of inspiration for Diana and a constant renewal of her connections to this land. For more information and to purchase her art, please visit her website. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to see more videos in this series.

_{Top Photo: Manzanas, Diana Riesco-Lind}