Artist Diamond Stingily: “I’m Interested in the Ugly Side of Things”

This story is taken from the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of AnOther Magazine:

“I’m not a nostalgic person but I watch a lot of old shows from the late 50s and 60s because I’m intrigued by the idea of censorship. The Andy Griffith Show aired from 1960 to 1968. Historically, there was so much happening during that time but, looking at that sleepy black and white sitcom and the innocent storylines, you wouldn’t know it. You watch the intro and you already know it’s gonna give feelgood, it’s gonna wrap up with a cute little bow at the end. It’s jarring to think of the political landscape at the time and compare it to what was on television, and it got me to thinking that it’s still going on now. In the future, it will be interesting to look back on a modern-day TV show and think, ‘So there was a genocide happening and no one’s discussing it.’ It’s cultural amnesia.

“I don’t think my family were ever a part of the American dream that The Andy Griffith Show was promoting, but what I have in common with it is that we’re both very American. My work is tied into the fact that I grew up in America, but the show itself is very anti what’s important to my work. I’m interested in the ugly side of things. I’m willing to talk about it even if it makes me uncomfortable.”

Diamond Stingily is reluctant to define her work, but one thing she will say is, “You can’t totally understand it in just one look. I don’t want it to be easy.” As a sculptor, installation artist, videographer and writer, the Chicago-born, New York-based polymath examines salient themes such as memory, family, iconography and racial identity (and the politics that underpin them) by rummaging among the experiences and objects of her past. From early projects, such as her collaboration with Martine Syms on the potent, satirical video installation Notes on Gestures (2015) and the publication of her poignant childhood diary in the booklet Love Diamond (2013), through to her recent probing solo show Orgasms Happened Here at New York’s 52 Walker gallery, Stingily continues to transform singularly subjective materials into artworks of collective significance and revelation. She is unafraid to confront the discomforting aspects of American life or make demands on her audience.

This story features in the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale now. Order here.