About
Dianna Wells’ photographic practice uses motifs from landscape and botany to explore the tensions that arise from changes to and destruction of vulnerable plant habitats and ecosystems. Recent work has seen Wells cultivate native grassland plants which she photographs with exotic plants. Referencing nineteenth-century photographic processes and the depiction of plants and landscape in historical photographic works, Wells explores low-impact analogue, camera-less and experimental photographic processes to promote both a sustainable pathway for photography and to advocate for the survival of our native plant communities and ecosystems.
Wells began her career as a printmaker after studying at the Canberra School of Art, before completing a Master of Fine Art (photo media) at Monash University in 2013. Her ongoing experimentation with the materiality of the photographic medium stems from her background in both printmaking and design.
In 2020 Wells was the recipient of the 4th Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award (Counihan Gallery, Moreland City Council) for her work Looking Closer. Her work was Highly Commended at the 10th Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition in Barcelona and the Renaissance Photography Prize in London. Locally she has been a finalist in the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize, Sydney (2022), Banyule Award for Works on Paper (2017 and 2015) and the Incinerator Art Award (2016 & 2014).
Wells currently works from a space within the Meat Market Studio Program in North Melbourne.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2013 Master of Fine Art (Photo-media), Monash University
1983 Bachelor of Fine Art, Canberra School of Art (now Australian National University)
Solo exhibitions
2024 A Garden of Grasses, Red Gallery, Melbourne
2020 Geomorphology, May Space, Sydney
2018 Coastal Collection, Bargoonga Nganjin, City of Yarra, Melbourne
2018 Finding Wild, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Caufield, Melbourne
2016 Suburban Geometric, Gee Lee-Wik Doleen Gallery, City of Hume
2014 Suburban Geometric, Sofitel Melbourne On Collins, Melbourne
2012 On Edge, Edmund Pearce Gallery, Melbourne
Group exhibitions
2024 Edge of Elsewhere, PHOTO 2024, Glen Eira Council City Gallery, Melbourne
2023 Making the Metro Tunnel – reflections by contemporary Australian artists, Domain House, Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
2022 Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize, Sydney
2021 Suburban Realism - Scale Ability, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne
2021 The Changing Face of Victoria, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
2021 Holding Ground, Silverleaf Artbox, Mornington Peninsula
2020 Solitude and Solace, Moreland Summer Show, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne
2018 5th Biennale of Fine Art & Documentary Photography, Barcelona
2017 Eb and flow, Banyule Award for Works on Paper, Hatch Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne
2017 10th Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition, Galeria Valid Foto, Barcelona
2017 Lens Mist, G3 Artspace, Melbourne
2017 Don’t Be Too Polite: Posters and Activism, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
2016 Incinerator Art Award, Incinerator Art Gallery, Melbourne
2016 Renaissance Photography Prize, Getty Images Gallery, London
2016 Victory, woman artists working in Victoria, Gaffa, Sydney
2016 The Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
2016 Black Lines, Black Eye Gallery, Sydney
2015 Renaissance Photography Prize, Getty Images Gallery, London
2015 In Space, Banyule Award for Works on Paper, Hatch Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne
2015 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery
2014 Collective, Perth Centre for Photography
2014 Moreland Summer Show, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Incinerator Art Award, Incinerator Art Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Silhouette, Red Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Art concerning Environment, Scope Galleries, Warrnambool
2014 The Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
2014 Space & Place, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane
2013 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery
2013 Got the Message? Art Gallery of Ballarat
2012 Kodak Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography
2010/2011 Colloquium, Monash University
Public arT commissions
2023 Walking within a grassy woodland, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Metro Tunnel Creative Program commission, Anzac Station hoarding, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
2021 Looking Closer, Picture Windows - City of Melbourne commission, shopfront - 229 Russell Street, Melbourne
Awards & GRANTS
2023. City of Greater Geelong Community Grant (with Janine Barrand)
2022 Commendation: Victorian Community History Awards (Revealing Stories with Janine Barrand)
2020 Awarded: 4th Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award, Counihan Gallery & Moreland City Council
2017 Finalist: Hariban Award, Benrido Collotype, Kyoto, Japan
2017 Highly commended: Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Barcelona
2016 City of Melbourne Arts Grant (with Sophie Cunningham)
2016 Finalist: Renaissance Photography Prize, London
2015 Shortlisted finalist: Renaissance Photography Prize, London
2014 Highly commended: Scope Art Award, Art Concerning Environment
2012 Winner: Best Landscape Image, Kodak Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography
2012 Semi-finalist: Moran Contemporary Photography Prize
2011 Monash University: Prato travel grant
Residencies
2023 Lighthouse Arts, Newcastle NSW
2022 Police Point Artist in Residency, Mornington Peninsula Arts and Culture, VIC
Collections
City of Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia
State Library of Victoria
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Art Gallery of Western Australia