I am an American artist known for creating large, figurative, abstracted paintings and multi-media pieces. I make abstract pieces that are influenced by the figure and nature.

I am an Expressionist and am most influenced, art historically, by Surrealism and Cubism. I enjoy experimenting with Space, either exaggerating the implied 3-D space on a 2-D picture plane, or by creating ambiguous space, where the viewer's eye travels back in space before returning to the surface of the 2-D picture plane.

Coming from Dance in my early life, the Figure, especially Gesture, usually informs my work. Jackson Pollock's automatic Action Paintings had a big influence on me. The process of painting around the canvas on the floor enables me to go into that automatic zone, which gives me access to subconscious ideas that I cannot access logically. Painting to me is the fusion of physicality and the subconscious spirit.

From painting around the canvas on the floor, I became interested in creating "4-Way Works" and have gone back to this theme again and again in my long career. Whereas the figure brings me back to reality and our human psychology, the "4-Way works" approach Metaphysical content, such as transformation, reconciliation of opposites and simultaneity.

My goals are to stimulate the viewers imagination and to help the viewer to find personal meaning in the art I make. I want to encourage the viewer to visually "play" with my pieces. On the "4-Way Works", I want to enable them to look at the pieces as they would look at a Rorschach Test, seeing different shapes transform from one viewpoint to another and encourage them to actually turn the smaller pieces or hang the larger pieces from different directions.

In my latest series of Vortex Works, I have gone back to spatially exaggerating the illusion of 3-D space on a mostly 2-D plane. These pieces can also be viewed from any direction, and I put hardware on the back to enable the pieces to be hung from any direction. The vortex is an archetype that became meaningful to me graphically when I could only resolve the composition of a collage with a spiral composition. I recognized the spiral and the vortex as an archetype that I wanted to explore further. All of the pieces in my Vortex Series have been done in 2024. More examples of my work can be seen on my website at https://www.dianemazur.com. I hope you enjoy!

Diane Mazur is an artist specializing in Paintings, Drawings, Collage & Mixed-Media, Ceramic Sculpture, Wood Constructions & Installations. A colorist, she has worked with many mediums over a long career. Her work is appreciated for its vibrant color, energy & interactive qualities.

Diane’s strong early background in dance & figure drawing influenced her work as she embraced Gesture Drawing & Action Painting. Since 1978, Mazur has been exploring questions about human perception & psychology in paintings that she designs to be viewed from any direction, each direction suggesting imagery to the viewer, the “4-Way Works”. Through the process of painting on the floor, she “hypnotically dances around the pieces”, impregnating them with suggestive associations from each perspective. She throws, pours & squirts her paints, working with different viscosities of oil & water-based paints to get the affects she wants. Some pieces are interactive and kinetic. She says, "Whereas the figure brings me back to our human psychology, the 4-Way-Works approach the Metaphysical content of transformation, simultaneity & reconciliation of opposites.

Mazur earned her BFA in Painting (SMU-1974), her MFA in Painting (UTSA-1978), and did post graduate work in Ceramics. (UTSA-2000-2002). Mazur has done several residencies, received numerous Individual Artist Grants, has exhibited extensively internationally & has run a working studio for over 45 years. She has been collected in many private & public collections.

Mazur married photographer John Dyer in 1978, and they have two children and seven grandchildren. She began teaching college art in the 80’s, and when the kids left home, she returned to teaching(2004-2017). She now works full time producing and exhibiting her artwork, participating in residencies, and running her studio.