(1957 - )Cheyenne Jim (born Diane Lynn) is full-blooded Navajo. She was raised within a rich Navajo cultural tradition. At the age of six, Cheyenne accompanied her grandmother, Aasdzaan Doo’al hoshii, a "medicine woman," to a Yei bi Cheii ceremony, a nine-night winter ceremony of the Navajo People where dozens of deities, each wearing masks, are presented. The event made a great impact on the young Cheyenne Jim, and yet her sculptural work does not necessarily reflect either Navajo or, more broadly, Native American orthodoxy in general. Her unique style is far from conventional, and Cheyenne does not wish to be limited by long-established ancestral customs. Some recent works hold a feeling of partial-Cubism, which Cheyenne was fascinated by from her college years at Bacone College, Muskogee, Oklahoma. In terms of her studio art, Cheyenne Jim is a self-taught from observation. Although she works predominately with mica clay, her subjects and themes are varied. Cheyenne Jim was quoted as saying "A true artist has no prescription to follow, only the freedom to create and be innovative." All of Cheyenne's art is handmade and hand-painted from start to finish. She signs her work "Cheyenne Jim."