Diamond Knispel is an acrylic painter located in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Her work features flora and fauna in saturated, lush scenes. She uses her work to explore the emotions of daily life, using each painting to zoom in on a particular critter nestled among botanicals and butterflies as a way to give voice to the wild world. Her postmodern-narrative art aims to make the viewer more curious about the wild world that often goes unnoticed. She says “I want folks to walk away thinking a little bit more about the wild world that surrounds us; to pause and consider cause and effect, and the reciprocal nature of everything.”
Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods explores the wild world that hangs in balance with the human world but isn’t always visible to people – even those who travel to seek it out. Often things that are not seen are not considered which is why our ditches are filled with both wildflowers and trash. Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods looks past the ditches and into the forests to focus on the wildflowers, pollinators and animals giving credence to the act of looking closer and exploring farther. Done in acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas the lively, colorful, whimsical, body of work looks at one warm spring day and the hidden stories being experienced by the plants and animals in our forests to honor the often unseen and unheard world that surrounds us.
Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods is meant to set a scene. The show starts on an early spring morning and progresses through the day looking at different tableaus as the light changes and different flora and fauna make themselves visible. The pieces are organized in sequential order based on the time of day. Each of these pieces comes with its own short story that reflects on the subjects and digs deeper into the artist’s human experiences that inform every paint stroke and color choice.
An artist and explorer at heart, Diamond has been making a career as an artist for more than a decade with her personal work, employment, and residencies at arts organizations around Northern Minnesota. Diamond currently lives in the Laporte (MN) area with her husband and beloved cat, Lady Gray.
Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods is on view August 9th – September 16th, with a reception on September 2nd from 5:30-7pm.
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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
The upcoming tour of “Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods” around the state of Minnesota is made possible, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Individual Artist Grant Award with funding from the McKnight Foundation.
