About

Dion Paul Valdez was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Son of an oil painter, he continues the tradition, painting the Southwestern landscape. Dion’s heritage is of New Mexico, Native and Spanish, with ancestry dating back to the 18th Century. This history influences his work.

Dion received a BFA in 2012 from the University of New Mexico with concentrations in Sculpture and Painting. Dion’s work is influenced by the philosophies of the minimalists, with calls to his roots as a sculpture. He continues to paint acrylic on panel, contemporary landscapes of the Southwest. Dion’s ongoing series, Integrated Metallic Landscape, is a contemporary take on landscape painting with a heavy use of metallics and geometric shapes, filled with vignettes of our New Mexican sky. This layering of composition, landscape and geometry, interplay to evoke a different sensory experience. A push and pull between 3D and 2D, which is felt by the viewers perception of depth, weight, and movement.

Dion was a member of the Strangers Art Collective, has been a part of multiple group shows, and has participated in Contemporary Hispanic Market. In addition, his images have been featured in publications such as Santa Fe Now and The Pasatiempo. Most recently, an image was selected as the cover art for a book of poetry. Dion continues to add to his portfolio of work with dedicated studio practice.