AMBER DIANDA
My first solo exhibition in 2008 was at the famed Colette in Paris. I created the front window display for the Halloween.
Everything on display was hand sewn, a special edition skateboard created by Paul Schmitt was for sale in store along with T shirts and a tote made by Element Skateboards.
The official music video for "Psycho" by The Shining Twins. Watch the punk duet perform their hit song on stage, while a few friends crash the party. The music video was inspired when a box of socks appeared at my front door courtesy of Stance socks. With The Shining Twins playing in my head, rather than putting the socks on my feet, I was inspired to make sock puppets instead… And so a music video was conceived. Everything is hand-sewn, the puppets were created to caricaturize Alex Weiss and Marisa Kreiss, aka The Shining Twins. But no band is complete without groupies to dance, drink, and run-a-muck. So when the stage was set, the band of merry pranksters joined in for the fun.
SUMMERWINTER was born after my Autumn inspired show at colette in Paris, the natural progression was to explore the other seasons. I started to observe the dance between the northern and southern hemispheres, and how opposites attract. I love the idea that one can not exist without the other. For this show I took a minimalist approach, which was inspired by my husband. I made the entire show in black, white, and grey. The star of the show was a 6 x 4 foot felted creature of Mr. Winter which had movement sensors inside and would sing to you when you came up to say hi. Thank you to Tonebutcher for sound engineering him and Matt Tammariello for creating his sound effects.
I also created a limited edition Ombré dyed scarf made especially for the show, which symbolizes black and white, becoming one; grey.
The entire show centers around a love story between Summer and Winter. Even though they live on opposite sides of the world, they fall in love, and continue their seasonal dance of love for eternity.
I would like to thank all the amazing people who have helped in preparation for this exhibition: Jeremy Mora for his beautiful gallery; POVevolving, Loren Humphrey for the opening night soundtrack, Luis Ramirez for T shirt printing, Honest Tea and PBR for the drinks, Nylon TV for the coverage, and a very special thank you to Element for all your love and support!
The official music video for the song "Come Back Home" by Brooklyn scuzz-rock jokesters, Japanther. Written as a homage to Beau Velasco, this music video is created in the stop motion animation style which took thousands of still frames to create a moving image. Vice Magazine and noisey.com exclusively released the music video. The LA launch was held at The Smell with the band playing an awesome show. A fan zine was created to celebrate and 15 animation cels where auctioned off to raise money for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast.
“Eden: The Story of Element Eden” is a short film that captures the story of Element’s women’s apparel brand, it’s family, Advocate program and vision to inspire girls on their own unique paths. I co-directed the film with my handsome husband Kirk Dianda. Over the course of the last two years we documented all the products and personalities behind the brand. To string the story along, I created a set of handmade stop-motion animations that not only help tell the story of Eden, but also represent the brand’s quirky personality while detailing creativity and fashion.
Original soundtrack by the Talented Loren Humphry.