Dana Matthews: Art in Connection to the Land

Dana Matthews is a painter and photographer from New York, who was in residence at Il Palmerino in the spring of 2026. Born in Alabama, Dana has a special connection to the land and environment which she brings into her work. As the first artist in her family Dana explored painting and photography on her own to discover her passion. With a BFA and MFA in photography she creates visuals that transcend one medium and incorporates painting into her photography.

Attracted to multidisciplinary work, Dana’s practice moves fluidly between painting, photography, and hybrid forms such as photographic installations that incorporate physical objects, as seen in her latest project Garden Goddesses. From this approach, it also becomes clear why she is reluctant to define her art within a single style, favoring instead a shifting, open-ended artistic identity. However, she explains that she draws on certain sources of inspiration, particularly German Expressionism (Van Gogh, Matisse, …), which has strongly influenced her paintings.

Her creative processes between painting and photography influence her identity as an artist as she adjusts to the pace of creation in photography which is rapid compared to the slow approach in painting. At Il Palmerino she was able to explore both facets of this artistic expression.

A central theme in this work is that of "becoming", expressed through a sense of transformation that echoes the changing of seasons and the evolving nature of the work itself. When she paints, she becomes especially attuned to the passage of time - the shifting light, the subtle changes in the atmosphere, and the way trees and natural elements slowly evolve around her. 

The artist chose to come to Il Palmerino to find a quiet place which could enable her to focus on her current projects, all linked by a common theme: the garden. This new body of work explores the garden as a space of dialogue between the natural and the erotic, the biblical and the classical, and the aesthetic and the spiritual, through both photographic and painterly approaches.

Furthemore, returning to Florence holds a special significance, as she first visited the city when she was younger, marking her first encounter with historical art. Being back in this environment allows her to reconnect with that formative moment while continuing to push her practice in new directions.

This experience was also born from a desire to challenge herself, as she was painting in a completely different environment. In particular, she decided to explore a different colour palette—the Tuscan one. It has allowed her to challenge her creativity, for instance by working with colours that reflect the surrounding landscape.

At Il Palmerino Dana wanted to draw inspiration from the gardens and fully immerse herself in her art in such a quiet setting. Being in residence here also allowed her to be connected to the environment and land and let this influence her work. As a gardener herself Dana was particularly drawn to Vernon Lee’s writings on gardens and used her multidisciplinary talent in painting and photography to incorporate Lee’s words into paintings.

Dana was able to build upon her identity as an artist connected to the land. She was able to immerse herself in the moment of her painting through plein air painting by being outside for hours and drawing inspiration from her surroundings. Now Dana has a connection to this land to add to her practices as a place-based artist back home.