Short Bio
Tonja Vojacek Sell is an internationally recognized visual artist exploring a variety of subjects, working in many different mediums.
Statement
A native of rural Wisconsin, my work is Influenced by nature and Lake Superior but also by travel in the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Mexico, Australia, etc. My pieces are often described as narrative. I have a background in illustration and enjoy the challenge of visual communication. I invite the viewer to enter the scene to share a fleeting moment in time. I define my work as realist expressionism. It is predominantly subject based, but to me, use of color, inclusion of texture and application of paint has equal importance to the subjects themselves. The subject is the vehicle for the process. I try to give the viewer enough information to connect with the scene, but encourage them to finish the story themselves. I am not interested in replicating, rather, responding to my subjects.
I generally create in series, exploring ideas generated by a subject or setting. I work on several pieces at a time, building layers of color and texture while developing areas of predominant focus. I work intuitively, so a painting may change dramatically from conception to completion. Sometimes only fragments of the original thought remain. I don’t constrict its growth, rather allow it to evolve and change during development.
Biography
Tonja Vojacek Sell is a Wisconsin native and daughter of blown-glass artisans who operate the Oulu Glass Gallery. She attended the Milwaukee School of Art, where she studied fine arts, drawing, and illustration.Tonja lives with her husband and children in the home, studio, gallery, & teaching studio they built together near Lake Superior. She works in many different mediums; including oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, glass, felt and more. Tonja has been represented by galleries across the country and her work is in multiple private collections in the US and Internationally. She has created murals for the Minnesota Discovery Center and the Carnegie Foundation at the Two Harbors Public Library.Tonja teaches classes and hosts artists retreats across the U.S. A, and in her Studio in Oulu, WI and She and Matthew also lead International Art Tours to Spain, Italy & France, where students explore and create.
Resume / CV
Current: Building (DO)artworx gallery, studio & retreat center. Painting, sculpting & teaching. 2020: Solo Show North 40: In my Element Wausau Center for the Arts 2019: DAI Best of Show People’s Choice Award 2019: International teaching: Spain 2019: International teaching: Italy 2019: International teaching: France 2018 Fine Art Connoisseur: Women Painting Women - Always a Lady 2018: Clarksville Now 2018: Grand Prize: Roots from Within Wausau Center for the Arts "The Belgian" 2018 Women Painting Women Show, Always a Lady, Clarksville, TN 2018 Best of Show: Wausau Center for the Visual Arts, Wausau, WI 2018 Best of Show: Shades of Magenta Show, Ironwood, MI 2018 International teaching: Mexico 2018 International teaching: Australia 2016 International teaching: Spain 2016 Women Painting Women Show, Clarksville, TN 2016 Feature: Northlight Book: INCITE 4 Best of Acrylic 2015 Feature: Northlight Book: INCITE 3 Best of Mixed-Media 2013 Grant: Chester Bowl, Duluth MN 2013-2018 Teaching locally - nationally 2013 Prove Collective Show 2013-2018 Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2013 Solo Show, Emergence - Phantom Gallery : Superior, WI 2012 International Teaching: Spain 2012 Prove Collective Show 2012 Grant: Discovery Center, Chisholm, MN 2011 Grant: Carnegie Foundation, Two Harbors, MN 2012 Member Show, Duluth Art Institute Award 2012 Arrowhead Regional Biennial Show, Duluth Art Institute; Award 2011 Member Show, Duluth Art Institute; Award 2006-2018 Teaching locally - nationally1994-2012 Art Resources Gallery, Saint Paul, MN 1990-2018 Freelance Illustration, gallery and commissioned work1991 Festival of the Arts, Fountain Hills, AZ Best of Show Recipient 1990 Festival of the Arts, Tempe, AZ Award 1989 Arizona State University Regent Scholar 1986 Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Scholarship Recipient
www.doartworx.com
doartworx@gmail.com
Classes, Workshops, Retreats
