The official “artspeak” definition of my art:

In my work, I am deeply rooted in biophilism. Nature and organic forms become symbols and codes, and the stories they tell are written in a visual shorthand like a long-forgotten ancient alphabet. Visual metaphors of birth, growth, death, and renewal are all present, interplaying with our human emotional states of being. Using birds, vines, roots, shells, seeds, eggs and fruit, these works explore the dual themes in the natural world and ours with a biophilic sensibility. Macro and micro worlds collide, from star fields to microscopic sea life.

Now let’s get real:

In art school, we always had to have an artists’ statement. And it always had to be full of that artspeak jargon. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for the language of your vocation. Think of doctors, lawyers, computer programmers, sommeliers, etc. They all have their own language for what they do, and it makes sense to them. But for the rest of us, we need them to explain things in “layman’s terms”. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We don’t speak their language and we don’t have to. It doesn’t mean we’re less intelligent or less capable, it simply means that what they’re talking about is not quite as important to our lives as it is to theirs.

So the above statement can be distilled to this simple fact: I love nature, I love portraying nature, and I see the parallels between us as humans and every living thing we share this planet with. I also see parallels between all of us living things and the planet itself. I like to play with that in my art, kind of like a visual poem. Beyond that, they are open to interpretation. What I intended the painting to say or mean may be completely different than how you view it. And that’s OK. “A picture is worth a thousand words”, right? Your words may be different than mine. I love the give and take, and hearing someone else’s impression of my pieces is truly energizing for me.

Angela Kallsen is a visual artist and illustrator living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. A lifelong artist, the business of Kallsen Studio has been going since 2007. She works primarily in oil and mixed media, including watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and charcoal. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues around the area including the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, the Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota, The Edina Art Center, the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

A graduate from the University of Minnesota, Angela took the path least traveled and designed her own degree majoring in studio arts, biological science, and Native American studies. This unique collaboration of coursework developed within her a deep understanding and respect for our natural world, other cultures, ecology, and the diversity of all living things.