Biography of Lance Dehné

Born in San Bernardino (Norton AFB), California in 1960, Dehné was your typical  Air Force "brat". He traveled the world at a young age, and in the process acquired a love of exploration, an attachment to the thrill of airplanes, and a passion for expressing himself through art. In his pre-teens he was completely captivated with drawing anything from Grand Prix cars to horses to plants to airplanes. Through his teens he continued to do works which were essentially reproductions of what can be seen through the human eye, though in the back of his mind the desire grew to pursue the experimental freedom found in more abstract approaches. He was satisfied for the time being though, and was critically recognized through a number of art competitions, both national and international, in which he received awards.

Then Dehné became increasingly interested in form and color without any regard to statement or representation, basically a reduction of the work so as not to suggest any particular object. He felt it was time to consolidate his skills and techniques and reassess the path which he was taking. "It is unbelievable how brave an artist must be to start a new painting; it is even more horrific to find yourself at the 'Y' in the artistic road. I was completely filled up and had covered a very broad band of painting, drawing, etching and sculpture — I felt I had gone full circle." He decided that this was not a bad thing and that going back to re-cover some ground could prove beneficial, even childhood ground where he had absorbed a variety of styles. "As a kid I borrowed thoughts on works from artists such as Kandinsky, Dali, Miro, Leger, and Picasso. I painted a reproduction of 'First Steps' and even attempted to paint El Greco's 'View of Toledo' along with a few Frederic Remington paintings and drawings."

With all his basis of technique and life experience he integrated the ideas of his artistic past and present into an approach he refers to as "Artineering." "I admit my art is a bit technical; that stuff is planted in my imagination like an alien growth."

Dehné has an engineering degree and has been flying airplanes since age 16. His fascination for moving parts and components in machinery are a major inspiration. Over the years Dehné has done many pieces focusing on aircraft, ships and trains which demanded the application of skilled drafting abilities and shading techniques. His career as an engineer allows him to travel and experience many facets of our industrially advanced society, which he hungrily eats up as a possible idea for the next art project. "I am so busy looking around, say in a factory or something, I can barely focus on the job at hand. It is a rich and varied experience." For now these visual and aural experiences are the driving force behind Dehnés work.

We start to see his paintings and drawings take on emotional and spiritual intensity through the use of colors and forms he has seen and strives to recreate on a different level. He attempts to show movement and beauty in his somewhat biotech/mechanical world with the flat planes and dimensional figures, the manipulation of bright contrasting colors, and the use of shaded modeling. His new techniques, along with the variety of media used, became a unique style that projects his sensitivity, intelligence, and intensity of feeling for his work. Dehné takes vast pains to achieve exactly what he wants and needs in the final product. His subtle use of the oil, pencil, pastel, ink and charcoal, and his passion for maintaining honesty and truth in each piece, while still being true to himself, underplays the impact of his work. Dehné's work, exhibited in such places as Palm Beach, New York City (SoHo, Chelsea, and 57th Street), Barcelona, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates, remains with you. Looking at the intensity of colors, unrestrained imagination, vivid emotions, and empirical practicality, it is clear that Dehne's artistic mutations are like a runaway steam train.