Colleen Walsh is a visual artist whose work focuses on the extraordinary moments in ordinary life.
Fun and leisure find an oasis in her abstract sceneries and relationships flourish amongst saturated hues. Utilizing the aura of good times and love documented in found imagery, Walsh’s paintings elaborate on the visual narrative and appeal to the universal experience of the human condition. Colleen Walsh paints new works of art, picking up where a photographer left off, from her decades-old, ever expanding collection of other people's photographs.
Sculpture is an endeavor in alignment with Walsh’s background, though having a home ceramics studio is a fortuitous and unseen turn of events. A dear relative passed a kiln and a heap of other ceramics materials on to Colleen, to share with her friends and her family, which she has done in small group classes. Using the slip-molds had in the available inheritance she sought to explore themes of balance/ chaos she experienced as a mother of young children during their Covid quarantine experience. The arm sculptures were developed as a practical approach to continuing her art practice, despite the many and ceaseless expectations and demands, exerted by others and herself.
Colleen Walsh (b.1982) is a fine artist thriving where Chicago ends, on the southside. Her paintings are mixed media, ranging from spray paint to oils. Her work weaves figures into abstracts, that vibrate with saturated pinks, blues, and neon colors (among others). These colors serve as a beacon of joy amidst winter months, temper tantrums, and the volatile politics of our time. A constant inspiration for her work is extended family, friends, and dogs (who all live in close proximity). Walsh’s work revolves around the themes of relationships, family dynamics, and beauty in mundanity. Her studio, in the basement of her single-family home, is a haven where she works away from her full-time parenting job. Her dogs keep her feet warm and her work intends to highlight the sunny side of life.
Artist C.V.
+ Education
Masters of Art in Teaching, Columbia College, Chicago, IL, 2010
Bachelors in Fine Arts: Painting, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, 2004
+ Representation 2023 Salon LB. < link to available sculpture work
+ Exhibitions 2023 Vivarium, Pretty Girls Making Cool Shit, https://www.prettygirlsmakingcoolshit.com/ 2023 Beverly Art Walk, McCabe Studios, Chicago, IL 2023 Valentines, Salon LB, Chicago, IL 2023 Reunion Video Lounge, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL 2022 The Other Art Fair, Revel Market, Chicago, IL 2022 Rostrum 312, Roosevelt Collection, Chicago, IL 2022 Winter Neon, Studio 41 Showroom, Chicago, IL 2021 The Other Art Fair, Revel Market, Chicago, IL 2020 The Other Art Fair, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago, IL (CANCELLED) 2019 Downers Grove Art Walk, Make Art Studio & Downers Grove, IL (group exhibition) 2019 Practical Romantics, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (group exhibition)
2019 Mail-In Show, Lawrence & Clark Gallery, Chicago, IL (group exhibition)
2018 Visual Ensembles, Treehouse Gallery, Downers Grove, IL (group exhibition)
2016 Island Block, Beverly Art Walk, Chicago, IL
2015 Beverly Art Walk, Chicago, IL (group exhibition)
2015 Uprising Makers Fair, Chicago, IL (art fair)
2013 Renegade Craft Fair, Chicago, IL (art fair)
2010 Teachers Heart Art Show, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
2004 Thesis, Lincoln Square, Urbana, IL (solo exhibition)
2004 I Heart Art, Link Gallery, Champaign, IL
2003 2 x 2, Link Gallery, Champaign, IL
+ Publication 2022 Photo Trouvée, Issue 8, September, pages 10-14
+ Residency 2022 Stay Home Gallery, Paris, TN
+ Curator & Exhibitor:
2013 Pearl: A Pop-Up Art Boutique: V, Rock Island Public House, Blue Island, IL
2012 Pearl: A Pop-Up Art Boutique: IV, George's Sweets, Chicago, IL
2012 Pearl: A Pop-Up Art Boutique: III, The Spice Merchant, Downers Grove, IL
2012 Pearl: A Pop-Up Art Boutique: II, George's Sweets Andersonville, Chicago, IL
2011 Pearl: A Pop-Up Art Boutique, Vacant Building, Blue Island, IL
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