"Anton's Flowers" 2002, oil on canvas, 52"x84"

unsettling appearance

Diane Marsh depicts people in her art work. But her emotionally charged, psychologically revealing, hyper-realistic paintings are far from stiff, traditional portraiture. Instead, Marsh uses her prodigious technical skills to show us people in the midst of intense introspection, coping with unstated difficulties and finding solace outside themselves. 

There is a universal understanding that comes through the work. The paintings aren't necessarily easy to look at. They're beautifully done, but not traditionally beautiful. But it is in their slightly unsettling appearance that they achieve their emotional resonance.

In "The Awakening" (1996) Marsh provides more information. The woman clutches her arms across her chest, lifting her head upward. Above her sits an off-white field in which three small images - a deer's head, a rose and a baby - float vertically in the space. Into the paint are scratched the words "scar" and "mercy" and, along the edges, the phrases "you shall know the truth, the truth shall set you free" and "out of suffering compassion may be born."

Small but powerful, "The Awakening" conveys a move out of sadness through a revelation of hope.

In a sense, that's the theme of all of Marsh's work.

L. Kent Wolgamott

Lincoln Journal Star
Sunday, April 8, 2001

"The Awakening" 1996, oil on paper, 28"x15"

"Do Not Go Gentle"  oil on linen, 36" x 72"

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