Diana Radovan is a multilingual and cross-genre writer, performance artist, forest bathing guide, forest therapy practitioner, sustainability professional, and the author of the books Our Voices, Seasons of Change, and Dincolo. Romanian-born, she now roams the German-Austrian alpine borderlands, where air, rock, and water feel like home.
Portrait: Inner Labyrinth. Photo courtesy of Diana Radovan.
Your residency
I joined Nature and Perception, September 2026, because I was drawn to the main theme of the residency, its simplicity, and the isolation of the location.
A moment that stayed
Each night we would hear the jackals howling in the distance, like a ritual. I really enjoyed our night fire under the sky full of stars and our Ionic Sea swim.
The work
I used and reused nature-found objects to illustrate the transformative journey I was experiencing in my writing, which matched an identity shift process. Each day I'd keep some of the objects but also drop some and collect new ones. The process made me approach writing in a physical rather than solely intellectual way and this is something I wish to use more often in my writing practice. In addition to it being a visual experience, it became a visceral one, including not only colour and shape, but also texture and room to experiment in a safe space. For exhibition night, I moved from the room's side line to its centre and exit.
1 - A History of My Body
2 - Encasing the Pain
3a - Restructuring the Inner Labyrinth
3b - Restructuring the Inner Labyrinth
4 - Opening Up
5 - Carving a Path and Leaving a Mark
5b - Leaving a Mark
6 - Building a Forest
7 - Spiraling into Balance. With 2 cards from the Kinner Tarot Deck.
8a - Reclaiming the Centre. With artwork by fellow residents (left to right): Ellie Foreman-Peck, Beth Golding and Dasha Silkova.
8b - Reclaiming the Centre
Now
Currently, I am finalising the project I worked on during the retreat, as part of my MA in Creative Writing thesis. In parallel, I am planning forest bathing walks for next year and a new novel, in which nature will play a central role.
Find Diana
Website: www.naturewriting.net
Instagram: @dianaradovanwriter
All artwork photos by Diana Radovan, taken during the residency in September 2026.
