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Diane Jacobs

Petra Sairanen

what do you feel?

• Dates: September 21 – November 17, 2026
• Artist talk: Wednesday, October 28, 11am – noon
• Gallery reception: Friday, November 6, 5pm – 7pm
• Gallery hours: Monday – Friday 9am – 4pm
• Fall of Freedom event: Friday, October 2, 12:30 – 1pm, poetry reading by Brian S. Ellis in the gallery

Artist’s statement

My art practice is materials-based, process-driven, experimental, with an emphasis on creating work that moves viewers internally. Art making is how I examine complexities, convey contradictions, and confront injustices. I make artist books, installations, mixed media sculpture, and works on paper that are influenced by research, personal experience, community engagement, collaboration, sense of place, and a conviction that art can make change. Working at scales both handheld and immersive, my intention is to spark an intimate curiosity in viewers that ignites self-reflection and action. I want the viewer to look carefully, think deeply, and experience the work from a personal place. I lure my audience with texture, material, juxtaposition, and the unexpected. I contextualize my work with metaphor and word play. Humor is a powerful tool to access the heart and allow us to go deeper. My exploitation of language and use of derogatory words has been a way for me to reveal systemic discrimination. For me, human hair represents humanity. I use hair because it is rich and thick with history, beauty politics, racial identity, genetics, and societal taboos. Each hair strand is unique and embodies the ability to attract and repulse simultaneously. I am interested in how my artwork makes you feel.

This exhibition spans 26 years of my creative practice. Some subjects, materials, and ideas continue to capture my imagination. In graduate school I was introduced to the artist book and witnessed firsthand how this medium can be a catalyst for discovery and surprise. Artist books unfold over time. They can have text and imagery or not. Their super power is in the way they engage the viewer thru sequence and experience. They are not limited to a book structure. In my mind, an artist book can be almost anything. It is the way the work is presented and how the information is imparted that makes it an artist book. From the beginning I have been testing the boundaries of what that means.

The silence of our climate crisis, the attacks on our civil liberties, the pervasiveness of white privilege, and the outright censorship and rewriting of this country’s history, all motivate me to respond. I must speak out because I imagine a better world, one that searches for truth and honors and protects Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants. I have linked this exhibition to the national cultural resistance Fall of Freedom that is taking place October 2, 3, and 4 across the country to stand up to facism! Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part — and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation. Because ART matters and artists are a threat to American fascism.

Artist’s bio

Born in Southern California in 1966, Diane grew up surf fishing, creating potions, and drawing incessantly. At age 12, she and her family traveled to Japan, planting the seed for a lifelong interest in cross-cultural understanding. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she discovered her deep connection to forests, feminist thinking, and social justice—her work continues to be informed by the cross-pollination of these elements.

She received her MFA in printmaking from San Francisco State University in 1996, during which time she received a Leo D. Stillwell Graduate Scholarship (1995). After finishing her degree, she was awarded a James D. Phelan Award in printmaking (1997) and a Kala Art Institute Fellowship (1997). In 1999, she was granted a Women’s Studio Workshop Artist Book Residency. In 2000, Jacobs received a prestigious Artadia award while living in San Francisco, CA. After moving to Portland, OR in 2002 Jacobs received four Regional Arts and Cultural Council Project Grants (2019, 2012, 2008, and 2005). She also received two RACC Professional Development Grants (2009, 2014) and a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission in 2010 and with additional funding from The Ford Family Foundation in 2015 and 2020. Diane has been selected for several residency opportunities: Signal Fire’s – Alpenglow Artist Backpacking Residency (2013) & Hart Mountain: Great Blanket of Stars Artist Campout (2017), PLAYA artist residency (2016) ), Kala Art Institute Parent Residency Award (2017), Golden Spot Award – Leland Iron Works Artist-in-Residence (2018), Pine Meadow Ranch Artist-in-Residence (2019), In Cahoots Artist Residency (2019), and a 2020 Travel Assistance Grant from the College Book Art Association to attend the 2020 CBAA Conference in New Orleans where she presented with colleague Alisa Banks. Jacobs received an Artadia Grant for past awardees in 2020 and CBAA awarded Diane a Support Grant in 2021.

Diane lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two sons (who are now away at college). Her prints, sculptural work, and artist books are in The Portland Art Museum, The Getty Research Institute Library, SFMOMA, the De Young Fine Arts Museum, Achenbach Foundation, The New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, Walker Art Center, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Alberta, University of Chicago Library, University of Miami, Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, Yale, Stanford, and Reed College among others.