Diane Dal Pra’s Art Shows The Special Energy Between Modern Women

Illustrating the beauty in friendship among women has long been a favored vocation for artist-types. Dal Pra represents this perspective in her practice—her abstract paintings and illustrations depict conventional moments between friends, and regular moments alone: relaxing at home whilst distracted by phones, smoking cigarettes, drinking wine, or sunbathing with friends. “I’m quite obsessed by the painting “I like the idea of portraying scenes of intimacy, but especially of ambiguity”compositions of grouped subjects during the Renaissance period”, she explains to IGNANT from her home in Paris. “The movement, the meeting of forms, the confrontation of colors.” Dal Pra’s subjects are often connected in one way or another; in gestures of empathy or wrapped in an embrace. Akin to the Renaissance art she speaks of, Dal Pra’s paintings also involve movement in the dialogue of bodies and colors. “I like the idea of portraying scenes of intimacy, but especially of ambiguity”, she continues. “When I paint women, we don’t really know what they are thinking, or what their real connections may be”. When Dal Pra was young, she would spend hours chatting with her aunt and grandmother in what they lovingly referred to as their ‘boudoir’. “This certainly influences what fascinates me in the very strong relationships that exist between women in a family or in friendship. There is an special energy in that.”