“I am the daughter of Greek migrant parents, and grew up in the 1990’s in Sydney’s Western suburbs. I became aware at an early age what it was like to be “different” or even invisible in the eyes of the dominant culture. It was later that I began to turn those feelings into fuel for creative work as an artist and began to create public arts projects with communities.” - D.K.
Diamando Koutsellis is a Sydney based contemporary artist who has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas for over twenty five years. Her work continues to include public works, temporary artworks and gallery exhibitions.
She has conducted arts projects with diverse and marginalized communities including people with disabilities, at risk youth, indigenous communities, mental health groups, and refugees. She has worked closely with local councils, both foreign and domestic governments and their prospective education departments as well as not for profit arts and health organizations in Australia, East Timor, China and in the U.S. (N.Y.C.) in order to build vibrant, robust communities through arts based projects.
Her life as an artist has brought her in contact with many people and places at home and abroad and she has worked closely with disabled people in local communities and art centres, in foreign countries fragmented by war, within urban crime zones of major cities and with Indigenous communities throughout Australia. Her public works projects are the centralizing seed for collaborative creations by, for and about the communities from which they arise. The focus is on inclusion, creating visibility through diversity and integrating new forms of thinking into the cities and rural zones they inhabit. The result of these processes is more cohesive communities that have a hand in creating ownership and pride in their surroundings through art making.