Show Preview | Dyana Hesson

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Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ
October 4-December 7

Ask Dyana Hesson to define her art and she’s not afraid to be blunt. “I always struggle with how to describe my art,” she says. “But, you know, I just paint what excites me. I just create art that derives from my experiences and adventures.”

She wants to create technically beautiful art, and she pushes herself in every way to do that. However, she has to paint what fuels her creativity. And that just happens to be right in her backyard: the native flora of Arizona.

The Golden Hour, Opuntia Engelmannii, Superstition Mountains, AZ, Bloomed 4.26.23 6:55pm, oil on canvas, 50 x 40.

Her vibrant, large-scale oil paintings will be on display at the Ironwood Gallery at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson for her solo exhibition Wild Arizona, Native Arizona Plants and Places. The show is a celebration of 35 years of Hesson’s works focusing on the vast botanical diversity of the state she calls home.

“We have more than 4,000 native species here in Arizona,” she says. “People know Arizona for the saguaros and the cactus flowers, but we’re such a diverse state and there’s so many interesting things that grow and bloom here.”

Superior Architecture – Globemallow Arch and Picketpost Mountain, AZ, oil on canvas, 30 x 60.

Her artistic process to capture what grows in Arizona starts with some simple ecological work, as in driving around the roads in her Jeep hunting for new botanicals to photograph. She loves nothing more than finding a wild plant she’s never seen before. “When we’re driving and come around a corner, I’ll tell [my husband] Randy to stop the car because I might see something in the distance,” she explains. “And we hike out there, and I think ‘I’ve never seen this!’ And then bringing that experience and that moment to the canvas is just the best.”

Hesson’s pieces, which can range in size from 15 by 12 inches to 60 by 60 inches, are recognized for their vivid color palettes and minimalist compositions. She focuses on one individual native plant on a large scale and applies thin layers of oil to achieve very little texture. The results let the botanical in the painting speak to the viewer and connect in ways Hesson does when she’s out photographing.

Shimmering Light, Sierra Madre Yucca, Patagonia Lake, AZ, Bloomed 4-22-23 5:30 PM, oil on canvas, 48 x 36.

“I actually say things when I’m out in the wild shooting my photos,” shares Hesson. “I’m talking to the plants, saying things like ‘Oh yeah, girl, that’s so great. Look at the light. You’re amazing.’ And then the photographs become a way to remember those moments.”

Hesson is constantly researching about new plants she sees and uses scientific materials to help her re-create the botanicals in exact detail. Educating others and preserving these native plants through her paintings is one of the main things that drives her as a Western artist. “I always like to say that these plants were here long before the cowboys and the explorers,” she notes. “And there’s strength in them. It’s very important to me to understand and research every aspect of the plant in that place.”

Wild Arizona will feature 40 pieces, including new works, as well as rarely seen paintings from private collections. An opening reception takes place Saturday, October 4, from 2 to 4 p.m., as well as an artist talk at 1 p.m. —Sarah Gleim

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This story appeared in the October/November 2025 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.