Colleen Kastner

Artist Statement & Bio

South African born artist, Colleen Kastner, uses an expressive style to paint abstracted landscapes and female figures with the goal of capturing a beauty much deeper than pretty that reflects the complexity of the lives we lead and the people we are. Her current focus on painting is on capturing the essence of place, not only through the senses, but through their connected history, memories, and passage of time.

“A place doesn’t merely exist as material fact. It also exists as an image in my mind with links to my memories of experiences, people, and emotions. And it exists in your mind with connections to your experiences and emotions.

“When I create a painting, I’m trying to conjure that sense of place within a place, with hints of past and other connections, and the different associations and interpretations we each carry with us. There is something about that shared common connection that is also deeply personal that fascinates me.”

Colleen paints from memories, sketches and photographs taken from daily nature walks and travel. She works with a variety of media including charcoal, graphite, acrylics, collage, watercolors and oils, playing with line, form, pattern, texture and transparency to create a multi-layered surface reflecting the complexity and multi-layered nature of her subjects.