Billy Dietz, "Flat Fire#2"

Artist Statement

Billy Dietz is a wannabe psychoanalyst who turned to art instead. To act out this fantasy he analyzes the unconscious of a fictional priest named Father Mark. Dietz reveals the mind of Father Mark via paintings and drawings in several episodes. In the last two we saw how Father Mark abstracted his lustful musings due to guilt, then we saw the images that pass through his mind's eye as he experienced the elation and fall of a sensual dream. In this present episode we watch Father Mark’s mind as it pieces together his metaphysical understanding of and fearful warnings against our present digital age.

Artist Bio

In 2016 Deitz received his BFA in visual arts from the University of North Dakota, and earned his MFA in studio arts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has been included in publications such as Young Space Artists, Top Painters Top Paintings, and BlueBee Magazine. Currently in 2021 he is an alternate for a Fulbright research grant in Bulgaria. Dietz has been part of various group exhibitions including the North Dakota Museum of Art, The Ewing Gallery at the University of Tennessee, Sugar Gallery in Arkansas, Bascom Center for the Arts in North Carolina, Foley Gallery in New York, ZG gallery in Chicago, Shockboxx in California, and Studio Montclair in New Jersey.

Drawer 2- Flat Fire #2, graphite on paper, 10x8 inches, 2021, 250