Artist, Writer, Designer & Senior Lecturer, Course Coordinator, Lecturer, events promoter, superstar dj, t-shirt maker, record shop owner, music video accounts guy, credit controller, barman, door-to-door salesman, temp, flower picker, box packer, stainless steel fabricator.
Dion Star MA is an artist, writer and musician, and since 2011, has served as a Senior Lecturer at Falmouth University’s Faculty of Creatives Arts & Communication. In this role, he explores the intersections between people and processes, nurturing the development of innovative approaches to creative practice.
With a diverse background encompassing music event management, running a screen-printing business, an owning an independent record shop, Dion brings a wealth of experience to his practice. He created the poster artwork and film titles for feature films ‘Bait’ & ‘Enys Men’ and co-authored (with Andy Neal) the book Creativity Begins With You – published by Laurence King Publishing / Quercus.
In 2024, Dion founded Dyski, a platform that offers residential arts, music, and writing workshops in Cornwall. These workshops include grant assisted free places and aim to nurture creativity, emphasising community support and the spirit of giving back.
Dion has performed at BFI Southbank, The End of the Road Festival, Kings Place, London, Milenium Centre, Cardiff and the Minack Theatre, Cornwall. Dion’s work has been showcased in exhibitions at The Royal College of Art (London, UK), Newlyn Art Gallery, and The Eden Project (Cornwall, UK). He has also shared his insights and artistic practices through conference papers, lectures, and workshops in Denmark, Finland, Germany, and his home country, the UK, focusing on the creative process and fostering artistic exchange.
His primary research focus revolves around exploring potential critical and creative 'ways of operating' through the habitual use of constraints as a conceptual framework. Dion’s research and teaching focuses on experimental and interdisciplinary processes, materials, media, and systems of production towards disrupting and challenging hierarchies and habits of ‘bordered’ design practice through Play.
Additionally, he makes music and experimental soundscapes crafted from modular synths and tape loops that weave through worlds of ambient electronica. He is set to debut a release of original works later in 2024. He is also one half of 'The Cornish Sound Unit,' alongside renowned filmmaker Mark Jenkin. Together, they create improvised and composed pieces using tape machines, analogue synths, feedback, and field recordings.