The Equity Office is honored to feature a series of college and community artists who address social and environmental justice and celebrate cultural diversity.
We invite submissions for future mini-exhibits, held in ADM 105. Please contact Veronica A. K. Neal at nealveronica@deanza.edu or 408.864.5338.
The Art of LINDEN KEIFFER and DYANA WYENO
About Our Featured Artist: Linden Keiffer
Linden Keiffer's journey as an artist and a person of color is a continual work in progress. As society continues to evolve, so does his work.
Beneath Keiffer's personal visions of figures, symbols and surreal environments is a view of society’s deep-rooted issues around race, culture, social values and morals.
He utilizes symbolism and dreamlike environments that aim to teach others the importance of racial and cultural diversity, and the need to find a better means to achieve racial and cultural harmony.
Keiffer graduated with honors from Arizona State University in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. He double majored in drawing and painting with an emphasis in psychology. He is a certified adult educator, community arts activist, and co-founder and president of The You In Me, Inc., a multicultural arts education nonprofit organization serving the greater Bay Area since 1999.
As Keiffer says:
“I create images that focus on the tough issues surrounding race and culture and challenge the rules that determine our humanity.
I like to present these topics in a manner that is unusual, mysterious and sometimes shocking in order to view the same old topics differently and create a dialog for change.
Sometimes a hat needs to be turned upside-down to see it’s really only a container to hide our heads in. It’s time to stop hiding...The world is truly a blank canvas.”
About Our Featured Artist: Dyana Wyeno
Dyana Wyeno, a Colorado native, grew up in Littleton, Colorado, with her mother of Scotch/ Irish descent and her father, a first generation Japanese American.
Coming from a multicultural background she identifies with people of mixed culture and color, often times admiring them from a distance. She felt torn between cultures and sought her own identity through art.
From an early age she was encouraged to draw and experiment with color and form. In high school and college she found that working three-dimensionally allowed her to combine mediums and explore expression and emotions, culiminating thus far in mask making.
Dyana studied at the University of Northern Colorado, graduating in 1993 with a bachelor of arts degree in art, with an emphasis in print making. Working in this medium, she created a variety of wedding invitations and annoucements. Recently Dyana has began playing with the idea of mosaics and painting with polymer clays.
As Dyana says:
"I draw upon a rich cultural background of traditional art, inspired by the colors and shapes of nature. My hope is to create art from found objects and existing items as well as raw materials. In a box of post-consumer clutter and trash lies possibility and promise.
I transform many parts into a whole, giving new life to everyday discards in combination with inspirations from nature. In masks and figures many mediums work together integrating styrofoam, paper mache, marbles, twigs, pine cones, stones, wire and other items.
It is important to me to create art wihile utilzing materials that are more abundant.I try to bridge the gap, borrowing from many cultures for subject matter and inspiration that will reach a wide range of people, blending the old and new."