Diana Baker Smith

Diana Baker Smith is an artist and researcher at UNSW Art & Design, where she teaches across studio and theory courses in the Fine Arts program. Her practice interrogates the construction of historical narratives through settler-colonial institutions like museums, universities, and galleries, employing feminist methodologies and collaborative processes.

Education:

• PhD Art & Design (UNSW Art & Design, 2017)
• Bachelor of Fine Arts (Time-Based Art, UNSW, 2008)
• Bachelor of Arts (Film Studies, First Class Honours, UNSW, 2008)

Research Interests:
Her work focuses on embodied history, archival disruption, and interdisciplinary art, with particular attention to fractured colonial narratives and water as both subject and medium. She positions herself as an artist-as-historian, reimagining forgotten histories through video art, performance, and installation.

Scientific Awards & Grants:

• 2024 Judy Wheeler Commission
• ACME Studio Residency (London)
• Funding from Creative Australia, Create NSW, and the Copyright Agency

Supervision & Collaborations:
She supervises PhD and MFA candidates including Jade Muratore, Mel Deerson, and Shireen Taweel. Her collaborative career with the collective Barbara Cleveland has been instrumental in shaping her current solo practice.

Exhibition Highlights:
Her works have been showcased at the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and international venues like the Hayward Gallery (London) and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul). Key exhibitions include Know My Name: Australian Women Artists (2021) and the 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016).