Deeply inspired by nature, Dariana Dervis delights in mining beauty from the ordinary to create the extraordinary. Papers, found objects, ephemera and thread are given new life and meaning as they are incorporated into mixed media collages. A visual dialog and juxtaposition of past and present elements creates a piece greater than the sum of its individual parts. Her artwork explores the ways we are connected to the landscapes in which we live and also to one another. 

I am like the crow – always collecting shiny treasures fallen from the pockets of a world passing by. I thoughtfully assemble reflections of my journey, my emotions and my truth. Each scrap of paper, every fragile insect wing and every borrowed beauty is artfully paired with something else – neighbors in a community, stitches of a tapestry. Evidence that we, too, are sometimes quietly lost until nestled within our assembled and interwoven lives. Each collage records my personal path and mirrors the soul of each receptive eye that sees it.

Soaring Gardens Artist Residency

Laceyville, PA  •  July 2019

"Close to Nature" at 21st Project Space 

Ground Floor Contemporary

Birmingham, AL •  April 2019

Wiregrass Museum of Art

Dothan, AL • 2018

Birmingham Museum of Art Installation 

for Bart’s Artventure 

Birmingham, AL  •  2016 

Alabama Women’s Caucus for Art 

“Intimate Spaces”  Juried Show

Huntsville, AL •  2016

Magic City Art Connection 

Birmingham, AL  •  2011-2013

Kentuck Festival of the Arts 

Northport, AL  •  2011

Carnegie Visual Arts Center

"Children of Nature" 

Decatur, AL  •  2019

WorkPlay

"ArtPlay at WorkPlay" 

Birmingham, AL  •  2019