Dianna Frid

Dianna Frid is a Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where she explores the intersection of material texts and textiles through artist's books, mixed-media works, and sculptures. Born in Mexico City (1967), she immigrated to Vancouver at age 15, shaping her perspective on non-hierarchical artistic practices and feminist craft lineages.

• Education:
• MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
• BFA from SAIC
• BA in Anthropology (transferred to SAIC) from Hampshire College

Her research focuses on the tactile manifestations of language, particularly how embroidery, lithography, and materiality reveal connections between writing, drawing, and legibility. She challenges oppositional views of time, rhythm, and matter, blending sensual and analytical approaches in works like El Prisma en tus Manos (2015) and Soledad (2021).

Recent works include the 2015 artist's book El Prisma en tus Manos, which uses spectral colors and aluminum leaf to reinterpret a 17th-century naturalist's compendium, and the 2011 On the Modification of Clouds (After L.H.) series, where lithography and leaf materials explore atmospheric imagery. Her technique often combines chine collé, debossing, and collage across the Sieve (2012) and Transmission and Reception (2005–2013) series.

• Awards:
• 3Arts Award
• Support from Canada Council for the Arts

Her artworks are held in major museum and library collections, and she will exhibit The Text and Its Substances at Biblioteca Andrés Henestrosa, Oaxaca, Mexico (May 23 – July 26, 2025). Frid's practice spans artist's books, lithography, and sculpture, emphasizing the co-emergence of materiality and conceptual inquiry.