Biography

Diana Sinclair (b. 2004) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in Jersey City, NJ. Her practice examines Black identity, water, and memory through lens-based media, printmaking, and installation. Engaging both historical inquiry and material experimentation, she explores the spiritual and physical dimensions of water as a site of trauma, resistance, and transformation.

Sinclair’s work investigates the transatlantic slave trade, Black aquatic traditions, and the racialized history of pool segregation and drownings in the U.S.—a subject shaped by her seven years as a competitive swimmer. Consulting with historians Kevin Dawson and Jeff Wiltse, she traces the exclusion of Black communities from water spaces and its generational impact. Works like De/Recomposition and Containment use cyanotypes, Polaroids, and organic materials to explore saltwater’s role in both preservation and erasure.

Currently a resident at Silver Art Projects at the World Trade Center, New York, Sinclair’s work has been exhibited at All Street Gallery (New York), Residency Art Gallery (Los Angeles), and Naranjo 141 (Mexico City). She was awarded the Gemma Projects Inaugural Curatorial Grant (2023), and her public installation Reflections was on view at Rockefeller Center (2023–2024).

While grounded in physical materials and research, Sinclair’s early digital work laid the foundation for her engagement with storytelling and collective memory. Collaborations with the Whitney Houston Foundation and large-scale public installations, including her Rockefeller Center commission, reflect an ongoing interest in how technology and immersive environments bridge historical and contemporary narratives.