Dina Broadhurst
Glitter, flowers, and pop art imagery all appear in Dina Broadhurst’s artwork, but her home is a return to simplicity to let the ideas grow organically.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Jacqui Turk for Hunter & Folk
Dina Broadhurst has always known she wanted to be an artist, using it as a way to calm herself or to work through situations. "To problem solve for me was to create or play by turning them into new things," she explains. "To see something new or in a new way is the most exciting thing for me."
Dina usually starts her day with emails in bed, before going out for breakfast and coffee (to get her up and showered!). The day then proceeds with the usual artistic balance of shooting, editing, retouching, painting, and creating; using the latter part of the day to work on admin and digital work. And just as the day starts, Dina finishes with emails in bed after dinner.
Emotions, everyday moments and experiences from day to day life inspire her — from art, travel and book to even chairs and furniture in her new home. Designing this new space, which doubles as her studio, was simple: it needs to be an inspiring space to showcase art and creativity. As she tells it, "to not be precious and to be adaptable and collaborative."
“Ideas always strike me at different times of the day and night, and sometimes I’m so inspired and excited, I just want to run with it immediately.”
A sunny corner in Dina Broadhurst’s Sydney home. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
“I love the instant pleasure of freezing a moment; seeing the way the light hits things and changes them… to see a subject's behaviours — confidence, letting their guard down or playing a character,” shares Dina. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
The artist sets up the impromptu shoots, surprisingly, using whatever she can find to capture the moment, which she shares is "usually very impractical but fun." For example, "like balancing a reflector on a pile of objects rather than going and getting a proper stand and clips and equipment."
Because of the spontaneous nature of these shots, the artist often includes herself in the images. "It's so unplanned when I see and feel things that I have to act instantly most of the time, so I just use myself as I'm available at all times," Dina continues. But it also stems from an early desire to capture her changing body as she grew up. "A lot of my portraits are for self-reflection both internally and external," she adds.
Her artworks depict these reoccurring themes of tenderness, emotion, a revealing of human flesh decorated in glitter or flowers, inspiring the viewer to look closer and search for the beauty. They take on a pop art aesthetic, combined with post-internet panache — taking the glitch off-screen with collage and photoshop. Femininity and sexuality are at the forefront; unabashedly revealing the other side to fashion shoots—one with a woman at the helm, distorting the male gaze and finding new ways of seeing.
“I love living here because I can spread out and create, it’s so quiet and peaceful — it’s like entering another world being home, totally shut off from the outside world,” says Dina Broadhurst. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
“I often test ideas or places out when I stumble across them using myself and end up loving what I did and not wanting to go back to it another time — just being in the moment is so invigorating.”
Photo - Jacqui Turk.
Photo - Jacqui Turk.
Dina Broadhurst’s incredible backyard with views across the harbour and the now ‘Instagram famous’ bold red lips. Photo - Jacqui Turk.