ARTISTIC WORKPLACE AND GALLERY

​Artist Statement: Colleen Steenhagen

Movement & shape, growth & decay, light, color and texture are the elements of nature and daily life that capture my attention and please me. As an artist who finds comfort in and who expresses with form, color, line and composition I have been influenced by both the simplicity and the complexities of our natural world….plants, rocks, animal instincts and symbolism, the seasons, the elements and the impermanence of life. The intrigue of the universal unconscious, different cultures, the history & connections of humanity and the possibility of greater personal awareness are what move me to create.

 I have always felt a gentle connection and communication with nature and the ‘still lives’ of life around me and this act of observing and creating slows me down to a place of timelessness and oneness. In recent years I was inspired to approach drawing from a different direction, from within rather than as a viewer. I used my drawings to tap into and express emotions and questions of the moment. My art often serves as a visual form of journaling and often provides instant relief and clarity with life situations or feelings I am a experiencing.

With a background in photography, printmaking and painting, I felt a curiosity in the possibility of translating my familiar 2 dimensional view into the new language of 3-D art. Just as my sketch journaling process took me to a place of listening and expressing without words, the world of sculpture provides me with yet another opportunity to create and express from an intuitive place rather than the more familiar place of visual observation and reproduction.  The experience of listening to the nonverbal world in which we co-exist with nature and the challenge of responding with different forms of visual art inspires me to share my observations, & experiences in a way that feels peaceful and playful and whimsical.  

Colleen will be our Artist in Residence at the Kenosha Lighthouse Studio from August 14-August 20, 2017. Additional information will be posted on dates and times the artist will have the lighthouse open to the public.

Meet Colleen Steenhagen - Artist

Samples of her work: