Diamond Stingily (b. 1990) uses objects from her past to explore identity, childhood, and family history. Her work encompasses sculpture, installation, and poetry. It relates to the art historical practice of the ready-made where components are combined and modified to create familiar conjunctions, resulting in evocative works that highlight materials' commemorative power. The common objects become fragments of memories and are charged with symbolic meaning, telling a wider story of American culture and politics.

Stingily was born and raised in Chicago, IL, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Stingily studied creative writing at Columbia College and published the book 

 in 2014. She started her artistic career as a performance artist and has collaborated with Martine Syms through the video work 

(2015) and was later featured in the movie 

 (2022). In 2014, Stingily debuted with the solo exhibition 

 at the project space Egg, Chicago, IL. Three years later, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, presented Stingily's first institutional exhibition 

.  She has also exhibited at Kunstverein München, Munich, Germany (2019); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA (2019);  Project Row Houses, Houston, TX, and her works have been featured in group exhibitions at institutions including Kode Bergen Art Museum, Bergen, Norway (2024); Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2023);  Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2022); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein (2022); Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA (2022); New Museum, New York, NY (2021); National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2020); NS-Documentation Center, Munich, Germany (2020); Swiss Institute, New York, NY (2019); and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI (2017). Stingily’s work is owned by a multitude of prominent public and private institutions and collections around the world, including Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; KADIST, San Francisco, CA and Paris, France; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein;  Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Rubell Museum, Miami and Washington D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.

Diamond Stingily

Peder Lund is delighted to announce an upcoming exhibition by the American artist Diamond Stingily. The exhibition, titled 

, opens February 27th and continues through April 26, 2025.

Diamond Stingily is a multi-media artist and writer who explores themes of memory, identity, settings, timelines, and the difference between city and rural living. Beginning her career as a performance artist, Stingily’s practice now encompasses sculpture, installation, and poetry, drawing from the art historical tradition of the readymade and the exploration of high/low in artistic expression. By combining and altering everyday materials, she transforms them into evocative works imbued with commemorative power. Mundane objects become fragments of memory, charged with symbolic meaning that reflect broader narratives of American culture and politics. Stingily is one of the most important artists of her generation and her work has been featured prominently in numerous esteemed international exhibitions.

Stingily's installation at Peder Lund is organized into two material expressions: fences and boxes. A series of four wrought iron structures will define the spatial experience of the gallery, complemented by two wall-mounted plywood boxes. At the exhibition's center is 

(2025), a monumental fence structure with sharpened pinnacles, bisecting the gallery as a gesture of protection and defense. A fence marks a boundary in ownership and can either allow passage or prevent entry – to keep out something or someone that does not belong – but it can also be merely decorative. 

Memory and identity are recurring themes in Stingily's work, and some of her most powerful explorations of the boundaries between private and public spaces have not been objects, but textual or dialogic works. Given Stingiley's background in literature, her artistic practice relates deeply to poetry and language. In her exhibition at the gallery, she explores the wordplay and meaning of "fence." As a verb, "fence" refers to "the act of defending," while it can also relate to the action or art of using a sword or even the selling of stolen items. In 

(2025), the artist took inspiration from European swords exhibited in late medieval to Renaissance period galleries at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The items Stingily favors carry distinct class markers and a strong sense of place, often rooted in local architectures that define spaces of safety and exclusion. Pierced through the sharpened pickets of 

(2025) are paper cups brought by the artist from New York. By incorporating souvenirs from the city where she currently lives and works, Stingily offers a moment of reflection on the substances that ground us to a place – traces evoking memories of a life lived.

 consist of wooden boxes inspired by New York and Chicago and draw inspiration from homes currently without occupants found throughout the city. When buildings are under construction, their entryways — windows, doors, or surrounding fencing — are mandated to include some kind of point from which those not associated with the building project can look into what is happening and witness the property's development. These openings can serve as metaphors for the forced exposure of marginalized communities to new developments that will ultimately displace them. The juxtaposition of empty spaces and the symbolic use of diamonds gesture toward both loss and resilience, offering a sharp commentary on systems of inclusion and exclusion. Stingily's timber boxes – with their diamond-shaped holes – evoke the aesthetics of surveillance and voyeurism, recalling works such as Duchamp’s 

(1946–66), where the viewer can only access the artwork through a peephole, reinforcing ideas of controlled vision and restricted access.

Stingily's art is recognized for its ability to transform commonplace objects into profound narratives that challenge societal norms and invite reflection on personal and communal identities. 

at Peder Lund continues the artist’s exploration of memory and identity, offering a powerful commentary on both physical and societal boundaries, and how these impact our communities.

Diamond Stingily was born and raised in Chicago, IL, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She studied creative writing at Columbia College and published the book 

in 2013. She started her artistic career as a performance artist and has collaborated with Martine Syms through the video work 

(2022). In 2015, Stingily debuted with the solo exhibition 

at the project space Eggg, Chicago, IL, and in 2018, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, presented her first institutional exhibition 

Works