Justine Di Fiore, "Orderlies"
2022
Oil on canvas
38 x 35”
ARTIST STATEMENT
My art practice is rooted in the emotions and sensations of giving and receiving care. I use the muscle memory of my experience working as a hospital nursing assistant to render the figure in painting. My painting process is impacted by the intimate connection I have to washing the body. The sensation of my experience, the struggle and tenderness encoded in caregiving, is embodied in the work through touch and gesture. Paint becomes material of the body, figures and ground merge, and human vulnerability and impermanence come to the forefront.
ARTIST BIO
Justine Di Fiore is a visual artist, educator, and former health care worker who was born in Monterey, CA and grew up in the Bronx, NY. She received her MFA from the University of California, Davis (2023) and BA from Oberlin College (1990). Prior to attending graduate school she lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she worked as a hospital nursing assistant. While in Minnesota she exhibited her work, attended the Women’s Art Institute at St. Catherine University, and received a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for her project Portraits of Hospital Workers. Most recently her work has been exhibited at the Manetti Shrem Museum, Davis, CA; Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Dreamsong, Minneapolis, MN; Studio DDLA, Los Angeles, CA; and the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA where she participated in the Studio System Experimental Residency. Justine lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
2022
Oil on canvas
38 x 35”
ARTIST STATEMENT
My art practice is rooted in the emotions and sensations of giving and receiving care. I use the muscle memory of my experience working as a hospital nursing assistant to render the figure in painting. My painting process is impacted by the intimate connection I have to washing the body. The sensation of my experience, the struggle and tenderness encoded in caregiving, is embodied in the work through touch and gesture. Paint becomes material of the body, figures and ground merge, and human vulnerability and impermanence come to the forefront.
ARTIST BIO
Justine Di Fiore is a visual artist, educator, and former health care worker who was born in Monterey, CA and grew up in the Bronx, NY. She received her MFA from the University of California, Davis (2023) and BA from Oberlin College (1990). Prior to attending graduate school she lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she worked as a hospital nursing assistant. While in Minnesota she exhibited her work, attended the Women’s Art Institute at St. Catherine University, and received a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for her project Portraits of Hospital Workers. Most recently her work has been exhibited at the Manetti Shrem Museum, Davis, CA; Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Dreamsong, Minneapolis, MN; Studio DDLA, Los Angeles, CA; and the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA where she participated in the Studio System Experimental Residency. Justine lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
2022
Oil on canvas
38 x 35”
ARTIST STATEMENT
My art practice is rooted in the emotions and sensations of giving and receiving care. I use the muscle memory of my experience working as a hospital nursing assistant to render the figure in painting. My painting process is impacted by the intimate connection I have to washing the body. The sensation of my experience, the struggle and tenderness encoded in caregiving, is embodied in the work through touch and gesture. Paint becomes material of the body, figures and ground merge, and human vulnerability and impermanence come to the forefront.
ARTIST BIO
Justine Di Fiore is a visual artist, educator, and former health care worker who was born in Monterey, CA and grew up in the Bronx, NY. She received her MFA from the University of California, Davis (2023) and BA from Oberlin College (1990). Prior to attending graduate school she lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she worked as a hospital nursing assistant. While in Minnesota she exhibited her work, attended the Women’s Art Institute at St. Catherine University, and received a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for her project Portraits of Hospital Workers. Most recently her work has been exhibited at the Manetti Shrem Museum, Davis, CA; Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Dreamsong, Minneapolis, MN; Studio DDLA, Los Angeles, CA; and the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA where she participated in the Studio System Experimental Residency. Justine lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.