In her practice, Dionyse responded with originality to ancient stories and cultural rites and rituals. She is known for her sculptural busts and masks that drew inspiration from and were sometimes named after Biblical and Greek mythological figures.
From 1938 to 1946 Dionyse studied painting, printmaking, and applied arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in her home town of Ghent, Belgium. It was here where she met her husband, abstract artist Fons De Vogelaere. Dionyse returned to her alma mater study ceramics from 1955 to 1958, and in 1956 she set up her first studio in Ghent, earning membership to the International Academy of Ceramics by 1967.
In 2002, the International Academy of Ceramics honored Carmen Dionyse as one of the world’s three seminal ceramic artists of the 20th century.