Dana Dion
Dana Dion is a Sydney-based artist. She studied art at Emily Carr University in Vancouver before moving to London in 1995 to continue her studies at the Hampstead School of Art. In 1999 she relocated to Australia and has worked as a full-time artist since 2005.
Dion works on a large scale with painterly verve, combining intricate linework with a nuanced and sophisticated palette. Her expressive approach to painting reflects a strong sense of movement, structure and layered mark-making.
Her work has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Belle Property Art Prize, Bowral (2019), the Lloyd Rees Award at the Lane Cove ArtXtra Art Prize, and the Hunters Hill Regional Art Prize, which she won in both 2019 and 2018.
In 2017 Dion received three major awards: the $15,000 Gosford Art Prize, the $7,000 Art in the Hills Acquisitive Art Prize, and the Art Extra Guy Warren Art Award.
‘Painting, for me, is not just about expressing what I see, but about engaging with the feeling of being surrounded by nature - a continuous journey finding a place to belong’
— Dana Dion
Botanical Murmur Mixed media on canvas 152 × 158 cm $10,000
Desert Warmth 150 x 150cm Mixed media and oil on canvas $10,000
Shifting Ground Mixed Media and Acrylic on Canvas 101x152 cm $6,600
Flower Pot In my Garden 110 x 152cm Mixed Media and Acrylic on Canvas $6600
Flora Mirage 152 x 122cm Mixed media and acrylic on canvas $6950
Bloom 91 x 101 cm Mixed media and oil on canvas in black frame $4800
Rocky Terrain 100 x 122 cm mix media and oil on canvas $4900
Aqua Flora 101 x 152 cm Mixed media and acrylic on canvas $6600
Blue Hues 110 x 100cm Acrylic on canvas $4800
CV
Artist Statement
My work is a personal exploration of belonging within the natural world - not as I see it, but as I feel it when surrounded by it. The energy of the Australian bush, with its chaotic, tangled vegetation, contrasts with the soft, delicate colours that appear throughout. This wilderness, combined with subtle beauty, informs my approach. I use organic forms and textures to reflect the rich complexity of the landscape and my own language of mark making to express the dynamic energy present in both water and plant life.
I love using Bold marks and nature’s soothing colours to create a sense of depth and layering in my work. These layers mimic the constant cycles in nature, where new growth covers that came before, yet the remnants of the past always shake the present reality. Through abstract forms, I capture the movement, growth, and ever shifting essence of both vegetation and water embodying the flux of life itself.
Painting, for me, is not just about expressing what I see, but about engaging with the feeling of being surrounded by nature - a continuous journey finding a place to belong.
Dana Dion 2026
Recent selected exhibitions
Gippsland Art Prize, Adelaide Perry Art Prize, Mosman Art Prize, KAAF Art Prize, Fishers Ghost Open Art Prize
Kings Art Prize, North Sydney Art Prize, ANL Maritime Art Prize Victoria, Muswellbrook Art Prize, Gosford Art Prize
Hunters Hill Art Prize, Blacktown Art Prize, Kogarah Art Prize, Outback Art Prize, Cowra Art Prize and Waverley Art Prize
Recent awards
2019 Lloyd Reece Award - ArtXtra Gallery Lane Cove
2019 Hunters Hill Regional Art Prize / winner
2019 Bell Property Acquisitive Art Prize / winner
2018 Hunters Hill Regional Art Prize / winner
2017 Gosford Art Prize $15,000 / winner
2017 Art in the Hills Acquisitive / 1st prize
2017 Hunters Hill Regional Art Prize / Highly Commended
Solo exhibitions
2022, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2012 – Art2Muse Gallery, Double Bay Sydney (six solo exhibitions)
2022, 2019 – West End Art Space, Melbourne
2023, 2019 – Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral
2017 – Without Pier Gallery, Melbourne
Acquisitions and commissions
North Sydney Council – Mayor’s Office
Lifestyle Manor Building, Bondi NSW – Commission of 27 artworks
Oakhill College Collection