Bio

‍Lyz Wendland (she/her/hers) is a visual artist living and working in Stillwater, Minnesota. She received her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and her BFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including the Berkeley Art Center in Berkeley, California and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum in South Korea. Wendland has been the recipient of a Jerome Foundation Project Grant and a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. She has received numerous faculty development grants and awards for her research on improving participation, color theory and sustainability. Currently, Lyz is Assistant Professor of Art & Design at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota teaching drawing and painting.

Artist Statement

Inside the core of my work, I use my experience of living within spaces of opposing theories to create an environment of reflection. Grounded in an interplay of color and shape, constructed conflicts encourage an encounter and awareness to these relationships in the everyday. Dense compositions mirror our stretched capacity and ongoing uncertainty.  

My process involves creating multiple pieces at a time. I alternate between working two-dimensionally, three-dimensionally, and digitally to mimic the back-and-forth rhythm of life. Acrylic, gouache, natural inks, digital marks and collage are applied with structure and without. This working methodology provides a connection I strive for within the dichotomy of clashing visual elements; sitting in the discomfort of contradiction as a place of strength while also bringing awareness to our personal and global trauma.  

Through these explorations, the work confronts viewers’ assumptions about space, place and thought, while casting familiar imagery into new contexts.

www.lyzwendland.com