“I use my hands, my heart, and critical thinking to make artist books, installations, mixed-media sculpture, and works on paper influenced by research, personal experience, community engagement, and a conviction that art inspires change.

I use materials that surprise and stimulate associative and visceral reactions in an effort to spark curiosity and create an opening for transformative self-reflection. My work deals with our collective consciousness regarding ecological health and diversity in both domestic and wild spaces to address our current environmental emergency.

I look closely at the natural world for inspiration and a sense of belonging. I contemplate the interconnectedness of all living things–juxtaposing the complexities, contradictions and injustices of our world. My work is political and makes social commentary — I study contemporary culture and challenge its shortcomings. I balance wishbones, weave human hair, burn text in magnolia leaves, print plants, fold dollar bills, patina copper, and sew fruit skin. I draw, paint, sculpt clay, carve woodblocks, set metal type, twist wire, emphasize shadows, and employ numerous printmaking techniques to tell stories.

I am currently exploring how we humans interact with other species, particularly ones that are key to the health of Mother Earth, and that we often fear: bats and wasps. Our fears distort our ability to be curious and open to wonder, inhibiting our natural desire to be in harmony with them. At my Township 10 ceramic residency in the Spring of 2024 I sculpted 57 unique bats out of clay. When I got back to Portland I created wire wing armature that I wrapped with wet handmade abaca paper. This project spotlights Pacific Northwest native bats and recognizes they are keystone species and play a significant role in mosquito management, plant pollination, and the disbursement of seeds. They are under threat due to climate change, lack of habitat, and white nose syndrome. I plan to finish this project in 2026. My new artist book, Wasp Love, is taking my full attention–diving deep into the wonderment of these diverse creatures. During my GLEAN residency this past Spring, I created sculptures of wasps and wasp nests out of gleaned material from Portland’s dump. By emphasizing the vast diversity and total uniqueness of these creatures, I aim to transform the viewer’s angst into reverence and fascination. Simultaneously for the past three years, I have been working on a series of sculptural inverted fruit called – Exposing The Inside – I am revealing the underbelly, the side you aren’t supposed to see. I cut the fruit carefully, eat the flesh, scrape the inside of the skin, and turn it inside out before stitching it back together. I am thinking about vulnerability, healing, historical trauma, and environmental collapse.”

Diane Jacobs received her MFA in printmaking from San Francisco State University in 1996, during which time she received a Leo D. Stillwell Graduate Scholarship (1995). After finishing her degree she was awarded a James D. Phelan Award in printmaking (1997). In 1999, she was granted a Women’s Studio Workshop Artist Book Residency. In 2000 Jacobs received a prestigious Artadia award while living in San Francisco, CA. After moving to Portland, OR in 2002 Jacobs received seven Regional Arts & Cultural Council Grants (2024, 2019, 2014, 2012, 2009, 2008 & 2005). She also received four Oregon Arts Commission grants with funding from The Ford Family Foundation (2024, 2020, 2015, & 2010. She received a Puffin Grant in 2022. Diane has been selected for several residency opportunities: Signal Fire (2013 & 2017), PLAYA artist residency (2024 & 2016) ), Kala Art Institute Parent Residency Award (2017 & fellowship in 1997), Golden Spot Award – Leland Iron Works Artist-in-Residence (2018), Pine Meadow Ranch Artist-in-Residence (2019), In Cahoots Artist Residency (2019). Most recently a 5 month GLEAN artist residency in Portland and a 5-week ceramic residency at Township 10 in 2024 in North Carolina. Diane lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband. She has two college graduate sons. Her prints, sculptural work, and artist books are in The Portland Art Museum, The Getty Research Institute Library, SFMOMA, the De Young Fine Arts Museum, Achenbach Foundation, The New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, Walker Art Center, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Alberta, University of Chicago Library, University of Miami, Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, Yale, Stanford, Harvard and Reed College among others.

Diane lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two sons (who are now away at college). Her prints, sculptural work, and artist books are in The Portland Art Museum, The Getty Research Institute Library, SFMOMA, the De Young Fine Arts Museum, Achenbach Foundation, The New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, Walker Art Center, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Alberta, University of Chicago Library, University of Miami, Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, Yale, Stanford, and Reed College among others.