About

Jeff Dikio is a contemporary painter, who was born on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines in 1975.  Raised within the transient military culture afforded by his father, an enlisted airman in the United States Air Force, Dikio, at an early, found solace in a world of constant change drawing in numerous sketchbooks. 

Since receiving his BA in Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the fall of 1997, Dikio’s work has spanned a diverse range of subject matter, media, and methods.  A common theme that has resonated throughout his work over the years is an inquisitive and celebratory use of paint to portray  the nuances of his surroundings. 

Focusing more on expression rather than depiction, Dikio attempts to paint fleeting “moments” imbued with inward reflection and sentimentality often overlooked in the flux of the day to day.

Jeff Dikio has exhibited extensively throughout the Bay Area since 1996, including three solo shows in San Francisco and inclusion in numerous juried group exhibitions.  He currently lives and works in the Bay Area with his wife Adele,  his daughter Audrey and son Miles. 

Artist Statement

I am primarily interested in painting as a window to self-reflection and expression rather than direct representation. My process when painting is not an attempt at realism, but rather a contemplation between observing my surroundings and reacting to my visual and emotional impulses.

I begin my paintings by referencing small studies made in nature as well as photographs to keep within the parameters of reality. I work liberally with oil or acrylic paint, often using palette knives to build up the surface of the canvas or panel. As I paint, I am constantly reassessing my intentions and actions. By deliberately re-working the surface, my hope is to unearth the more intrinsic concerns within the painting.

My most recent body of work is largely inspired by the majestic beauty found along the Californian coast. My focus in making these painting is to capture the lighting, local color, and atmosphere distinctive of the Bay Area and its nearby surroundings.

Regardless of subject matter- be it figurative or landscape- my intentions when making a painting are to explore the singularity of a “moment”. The capacity in which a painting can evoke a sense of familiarity, awaken a distant memory, or exact an emotional response within a viewer is a quality I hope will resonate in the work I create.

ARTIST CV

B. 1975

Education

1997  Bachelors of Fine Arts, University of   
          California, Santa Cruz

Solo Exhibitions

2005- Waking Windows, The Hang                       Gallery,  San Francisco, CA
2003- Last Call,  The Hang Gallery, San                  Francisco, CA
2002- An Inspired Stillness, The Hang
            Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Group Exhibitions

2017- 2 Person show, Domain,                              Oakland,CA
2013- Art Explosion Spring Open Studios, 
           San Francisco, CA
2012- Art Explosion Spring Open Studios, 
           San Francisco, CA
2011- Rizal:150, Oakland Asian Cultural
           Center, Oakland, CA
2010- Twenty-Four Seven, Two Person
           Show, Hang Gallery, San                              Francisco,  CA
2009- Group Show, Hang Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
2008- Group Show, Hang Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
2007- Horses, SPUR Projects, Portola                   Valley, CA
2007- Work on Paper, Hang Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
2006- Landscapes, Hang Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
2006- Solitaire, Group Show, Hang                       Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002- 2003- Group Show, Sway Gallery, 
            Berkeley, CA
2001- Still Lifes, Canvas Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
2000- Figurative Group Exhibition, Canvas
            Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999- The Landscape, Base Gallery, San
            Francisco, CA
1997- Coastal Preservation Show, Atelier
           Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
1997- UCSC Irwin Scholar Juried                            Exhibition, Eloise- Pickard Gallery,              Santa Cruz, CA

Awards and Publications

2009- Bringing Him Home                                      A Memoir by Aaron Cooper, cover               art

1997- Irwin Scholarship, University of
          California, Santa Cruz, CA