About Dina - artist statement

Exploring nature’s fragility between consumerism and conservation - can art make a difference?

Artist Statement

My work explores the fragile balance between consumerism and conservation, between beauty and impact, extinction and progression — reflecting on how our choices create tension and paradox: the way we admire nature even as we consume it.

Each piece begins with a purpose — to uncover hidden beauty, honour lost cultures, or address environmental concerns. I work with natural elements and found or vintage objects, combining them with modern materials and technologies. I’m drawn to these contrasts — the organic and the manufactured, the preserved and the disposable — and how they speak to our complex bond with the natural world.

My aim is not only to highlight fragility but to question how we might live more consciously within it. I use art as a way to reflect, educate, and spark small shifts in how we, as consumers, think about creating positive impact.

Through this process, I hope to create work that invites awareness, empathy, and a renewed sense of responsibility toward the world we share.

The Creative Entrepreneur - a history

Dina has been an art practitioner since high school. Predominantly self-taught, she has complemented her natural talent with formal workshops in ceramics, sculpture, stone masonry, and mosaic, alongside studies in Interior Design and a Diploma of Fine Art.

Her artistic journey began with painting exhibitions during her school years, later evolving into home furnishings and sculptural forms after her children were born. In 1997, she founded a functional art business in Brisbane, creating the distinctive Fantasy Dreams bedheads — custom-designed statement pieces exported worldwide and celebrated for their originality and craftsmanship.

In 2002, after transitioning from corporate life, Dina established ArTTable, a business dedicated to sharing creativity through art tuition and craft materials across Australia. Driven by her passion for empowering women through creativity, she built a team of 35 tutors who delivered hands-on art experiences to over 5,000 people nationwide.

After returning to corporate work in 2008, Dina continued to develop her sculptural practice from her Melbourne home, inspired by her partner’s photography and the city’s creative energy. She launched That Creative Feeling in 2012 — a blog encouraging others to explore art in everyday life and discover their own creative potential.

Now based in the hills of South Gippsland, Victoria, Dina works full-time as a professional artist. Her studio, set within a restored 150-year-old settler’s cottage, overlooks the rural landscape that continues to inspire her. Her current work draws from local wildlife, natural forms, and community life. Through her retail line of gothic oddities and curiosities, available in local marketplaces and online via That Creative Feeling, she shares her distinctive vision — blending natural materials, imagination, and a touch of the macabre into every creation.

Art, Strategy & Sustainability

Building on her corporate background in strategy and innovation, Dina now weaves these disciplines into her art practice to explore how creativity can inspire conservation and social transformation. Her sculptures investigate the tension between consumerism and nature, using natural, recycled, and modern materials to reflect on humanity’s impact on the environment.

By bridging art and enterprise, she aligns creative purpose with leadership and sustainable change. Dina is open to collaborations, postgraduate research, and projects that unite art, strategy, and innovation to drive meaningful cultural and environmental impact.