Judith DiMaio’s insatiable search for knowledge and visual literacy has taken her around the world many times from the ruins of North Africa, to the cisterns of Istanbul, to the 'black hole’ of Calcutta, to Beijing and the Forbidden City, to Bangladesh to inspect Louis Kahn’s extraordinary National Parliament House in Dhaka, not to mention the breathtaking natural wonder, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
DiMaio leverages her in-depth knowledge of the histories of architecture, art and culture, born from academic, professional pursuits and personal contacts to become her crystal ball. DiMaio, in her years traveling the globe, has created a unique ability for storytelling which takes on many forms: lecturing around the world; dialogue in the form of symposia; playing the role of ‘Interlocutor,’ often between personalities from different eras or with opposing points-of-view and strong opinions.
Joining the elephant parade, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Storytelling derived from her world travels — inspiring
degrees of visual literacy
The Pied Piper of Leptis Magna, Libya
DiMaio is as capable of immersing herself in conversation in the midst of Charles Towneley’s collection of antiquities, in 18th century London, just as she is in any century she finds herself or on any continent.
“Without confrontation and diversity the creative process cannot occur.”
Octavio Paz, The Other Mexico: Critique of the Pyramid
‘Drawing’ Inspiration
Study sketches for an LA garden, inspired by ancient Roman water walls.
Ancient Apollonia (Cyrenaica), Libya
'Close Reads,' Ancient Roman Baths, Baia, Italy
The Great Wall, China
Her storytelling is also found in the form of essays and in the ‘salon’ format of conversation. Her approach is not so much historical, but rather, her style is more polemical, analytical, critical and optical, often feathered with historical anecdotes and insights derived from the happenstances and mishaps encountered in travel. She is a personaggio with the gift to bring any conversation to life and inspire any audience, just as she can bring any artwork to life, as if seen for the first time.
Deep in conversation, Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
'Capturing' inspiration, Paris, Musée Carnavalet
DiMaio’s New York apartment as seen through the looking glass
“The Facts & Essential Trajectories,” Public Lecture, Rome, Italy
Montage by Richard Bosch