Cheryl Dietz – bio

Cheryl Dietz has lived in New Mexico since 1996 when she moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Albuquerque to get her MFA at the University of New Mexico. She has participated in many regional group and solo exhibitions as well as national exhibitions in Texas, California, Colorado, New York, and Chicago. Her work is included in the Albuquerque Public Art Collection. She is a full-time Instructor of Art and the Chair of Art, Music and Theatre at CNM Community College.

Artist Statement

Distilled down to the core, my paintings are visual interpretations of the environment. They are observations, memories and transparent mental fragments that overlap in time and in the mind. I currently have a particular interest in trees. They network through our lives above and below ground connecting to each other in ways we don’t see. Trees live hundreds of years beyond us witnessing countless cycles of life and death. They are magnificent, with individual characteristics that we often take for granted. Electrical power lines pop up in many of my paintings, overlapped and incorporated as a visual element. Like the roots of the trees they represent connections and a network of communications. I have a large Mulberry tree with a dense growth of large leaves that hang over the street in front of my house. The shade it creates in the summer is cool and kind in the midst of the burning cement and asphalt. Under its massive canopy I will often see a car parked with the driver sitting in it receiving respite from the scorching sun in a place of shelter and soothing comfort.