About

My name is Diem Dangers and I am an artist and folklorist committed to preserving and reviving the living spirit of folklore through my handcrafted linocut art rooted in reverence for the wild feminine and cultural mythologies. My artwork and my writing is inspired by my passion for folktales from around the world that are woven together through their shared honoring of women who nurture, steward, and live in intimacy with the wild or who are creaturely themselves.

I am deeply inspired by the creative work of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Jungian analyst and Cantadora (keeper of the old stories in the Hispanic tradition) who identifies the Wild Woman Archetype in her renowned book Women Who Run With The Wolves. Dr Estés identifies this Wild Woman as La Mujer Grande (the Great Woman), and La Loba (Wolf Woman), but she shares how in her own Hungarian heritage Wild Woman is named Ö Erdöben (She of the Woods), or Rozsomak (The Wolverine). She goes on to describe how this Wild Woman shows up in so many cultural traditions. Among the Navajo she is Na'ashjé'ii Asdzáá (Spider Grandmother), and in Guatemala she is Humana del Niebla (The Mist Being). In Japan she is Amaterasu Omikami (The Numina who brings all light and consciousness), and in Tibet she is Dakini (the dancing force which produces clear-sight within women). . .and the list goes on. My work is a humble honoring and celebration of these Wild Women who show up again and again in folklore around the world as wild goddesses, plant medicine keepers, priestesses, dream weavers, feral females, wild witches, magical creatures, maidens, mothers and crones. I believe folktales of the Wild Woman have the power to enliven our sense of enchantment with the earth, revive our collectively shared ancient honoring of the sacred feminine, and rekindle the lost and buried connections we have with each other.

My inspiration to begin printmaking came from discovering the Đông Hồ folk art block prints depicting the natural environment and folktales from my mother’s native Vietnam. Given that I am a self-taught visual artist with a background in anthropology and a personal interest in folklore, finding these prints felt like uncovering a bridge between art, culture, and ancestral story. I find it deeply meaningful to be carrying on the age-old technique of hand-carving and hand-printing, an artistic legacy with roots in the East, that follows a cross-cultural cross-continental journey to the West through history that is somewhat parallel to my own life trajectory. I have lived in several countries in the Asia-Pacific region, all of which has nurtured my interest and love for folktales from a diverse variety of cultures and landscapes.

I carve and print with care, using natural materials and time-honored block printing techniques that echo the timelessness of the folktales that inspire them. My work is where craft and story meet — one shaped by ink and the slow rhythm of hand and blade, the other carried through generations by voice and memory. Both are vessels of folk-wisdom: one drawn from the raw elements of the earth, the other from the deep forest of the imagination. Together, they offer a path — a way of weaving us back into kinship with the wild.

I truly believe planetary ecological restoration is a relational job (in addition to conservation efforts and technological advancement) and for this reason, there is a vital need to re-story our human relationship with the wild. In sharing these folktales that have been cherished and honored for hundreds of years through oral tradition, I bring old world story medicine into our modern lives in hopes that it might transform us too.

When I am not in my studio you can find me hiking through the many wildlife sanctuaries scattered throughout the state of Massachusetts where I live, from which I draw so much inspiration for my work and am so grateful for. I currently live with my partner and son, and work from my home studio in the Greater Boston Area.

Short Video on my Creative Process:

Follow me on Instagram to learn more about my artistic process, along with the beloved folktales, wild landscapes and seasonal cycles that inspire each piece: