About the Artist

DJ Hyde Matheny studied studio art and psychology at University of Wisconsin followed by subsequent studies in Graphic Design at Pratt Institute in New York City and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. She worked at various design firms in LA, San Francisco, and Chicago before moving to Kansas City to work for Hallmark Cards and other advertising agencies. From 2003-2015, she revived her artistic passion for painting by studying with the legendary local artist, Philomene Bennett. During the Great Recession, when she lost her career as a designer, DJ earned an MSW degree at University of Kansas to become a hospice social worker. After working 6 years in hospice, she secured a private painting studio in the West Bottoms of Kanas City where she  devotes most of her energies to painting.

Artist's Statement 

Whether portraits or landscapes, my work involves an investigation of light and luminosity as a means of expressing the ephemeral and mysterious nature of reality.

My earlier portraits, created during the height of the pandemic, explored the use of chiaroscuro as way to suggest themes of longing, loss, and grief with the potential for hope and spiritual transformation. Many of the compositions employed deep shadows and directional light to evoke a somber mood, include symbols, some highly personal and others more widely accessible.

The later portraits, which investigate the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter, provide a vehicle for exploring similar themes but with expanded references to the universal themes of maternal love, grief and loss and the cycle of life and death. This mythical world affords the artistic opportunity to blend portraiture with fantasy, to create a more magical reality.  

A recent series of landscapes employs the technique of painting on a substrate of silver leaf, that is intermittently revealed through the drips and layers of paint, to suggest a sense of the impermanence and fragility of the moment.

The other more traditional landscapes include imagery that depicts scenes at dusk or late afternoon with an emphasis on the subtle colors that contrast to the brilliant colors of the sky and sunset—reminiscent of the mysterious quality of light at this favorite time of day.