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According to Merriam Webster, the essential meaning of art is “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.” It’s subjective, thought-provoking and somehow surpasses its inanimate state to be wise and moving. We’re lucky to have an abundance of such art in the Fox Cities. 

Below, local aficionados reveal their Artists to Watch in 2022:

Elyse-Krista Mische
Nominator: Melanie Thurber, Adult Services & Engagement Librarian at Appleton Public Library
“Art can have a way of helping us experience life events, reshaping it- just a bit, to alter our perspective, maybe even make it a little more palatable. Somehow still difficult, but beautiful. Elyse-Krista Mische’s work pushes the boundaries on how we talk about and view mortality, refocusing our attention on the beauty of living, the memories we can carry, and the impact we are making on those around us. I have watched Elyse-Krista’s unique ability to help others reach back and find the beauty in their memories, creating so much joy and warmth. Her Soul Vessels use symbols with a touch of whimsy to explore and capture those important existential questions that define our place in this world.”

From Mische:
“My creations are time capsules that preserve personal and non-personal, real and fabricated, memories and experiences. I deconstruct barriers that separate human beings from acknowledging and talking about existential issues. Creative engagement with older adults is an integral component to my practice providing exchange of wisdom, perspective and history. Thanatology (Death Studies) drives research in a multitude of contemporary and historical ideas; philosophical, religious and scientific, and other perspectives on living and dying inform my work and reflect diverse viewpoints. Birds have been cross-cultural symbols of otherworldliness for centuries and are placed in my work as higher powers and conduits to help others more universally connect with the narrative. Make-believe, childhood crafts and processes introduced by my elders evoke a sense of nostalgia while tactile mediums draw people in with whimsy and fuel interaction. This approach allows for physical, intimate engagement with the artwork and associated ideas; I want to draw people into death positivity, encourage them to get face to face with their mortality, and I hope to create a welcoming space for people to consider and share their own beliefs.”

Carmen Duran
Nominator: Alexis Arnold, owner of Artless Bastard, Inc. in West De Pere
“Carmen does an amazing job creating whimsical floral gardens with vivid colors and bold brushstrokes and textures. She draws inspiration from our midwest landscapes and her work adds a pop of color to any home or office decor. You feel a sense of happiness and joy when you view her work, which clearly comes from her kind and thoughtful personality. She supports and gives back to the art community, which is a blessing in itself… her painting came a little later in life. Once her children were mostly grown, she found photography and had the good fortune to have an exhibit. During the exhibit, something was telling her that there was more and she had the urge to paint. The feeling was overwhelming. The very next day, she bought art supplies and (her) journey began.”

From Duran:
“Early on in my art making, inspiration for my art came from a need for healing. Having always been a creative person, the creativity really blossomed just as I was turning 50.
From the beginning, I knew that my artwork had to be authentic, in order for it to be  sustainable and of service to others. Today, inspiration comes from nature and our changing Midwest landscape. I paint primarily with acrylic paint and other water soluble mediums, exploring new techniques along the way. Vibrant colors and rich textures tell the story of our lives and ultimately create a connection with the viewer.”

Andrew Linskens
Nominator: Laura Schley, City of Green Bay Public Arts Coordinator
“You don’t have to travel far within the Green Bay/Fox Valley area before stumbling upon Andrew Linskens’ work. His vibrant and detail-laden murals are hard to miss and are a sight best viewed in person, to truly take in the massive scale and mesmerizing intricacies of his work. Andrew seems to be a powerhouse jack-of-all-trades when it comes to creating work, not limiting himself to just painting and murals, but exploring anything and everything in between from sculpture and performance to music and digital media. He has a talent for combining mediums and entrancing viewers as he collaborates with other talented artists in The Art-Hop Collective, a collaborative art group found performing at many events within the community.  Andrew’s work opens up conversations between artists and the community and dishes up ideas and issues facing the community in a digestible format that brings people back wanting seconds.”

From Linskens:
“In recent years my focus has shifted toward live performance and street art. Stepping outside the traditional gallery space has opened the door to a much larger, more inclusive audience. One way I do this is by performing with various artists and musicians in The Art-Hop Collective. We show the power of collaboration between art and music. The multi-sensory spectacle we offer is raw and instinctive. We intuitively paint large scale artworks while musicians perform. The viewer is invited into the process of creation from beginning to end. In a gallery experience only the final refined piece of artwork is present. Another important avenue for me has been the expanding mural scene. I only work with paint and a brush. No spray cans. I want the huge murals to have the same attention to detail as my smaller works on canvas. I love how these murals can provide a brief moment of tranquility for a person during an otherwise hectic day. I also love seeing all the selfies and posts where people layer their own personal experiences into the artwork. Ultimately in both my street and performance art, I want the community to come together in spite of individual differences, one paint stroke at a time.”

Lauren Semivan
Nominator: Beth Zinsli, Curator at the Wriston Art Galleries at Lawrence University in Appleton
“In a course I teach on the history of photography, I spend a fair amount of time convincing students that the image a camera captures is not identical to what our eyes see in the same moment. Lauren’s work deliberately probes this lacuna in visual perception, patiently coaxing effects of light and texture that our eyes would otherwise miss to the surface of her photographs. Each image is an accumulation of subtle marvels—the vague translucence of crumpled wax paper, the blanched edge of fraying velvet—that, taken together, endow viewers with a reinvigorated sense of visual acuity.”

From Semivan:
“Within photographs there exists a converging of two scales; the physical world—things in themselves as they are—and the interior world lying hidden in all things; a synchronism of the eternal and the everyday. My ongoing body of work has evolved through intense contemplative study and manipulation of an ephemeral sculptural environment which is photographed with a large format 8×10” camera from the early 20th century. References to the physical world are skewed by our own perceptions and associations. Color is an emotional descriptor, creating depth within a two-dimensional space. The marks on the surface suggest topographies; roads, rivers, passageways or impressions from suggested movement; scratches on glass, stains. Compositions evolve, are photographed, and then devolve into the next image. Materials and objects photographed are discarded, secondary to the image itself.”

Chelsea Littman
Nominator: Karen Hertz-Sumnicht, Owner/Art Consultant at Avenue Art and Company in Appleton
“Chelsea Littman, originally from Cleveland, has been a studio assistant at Popelka Trenchard glass for the past four years after meeting them at Corning Museum of Glass. She holds a BFA in Glass from Alfred University. New to the state, she has quickly become a vital artist around the state of Wisconsin, as well as in Door County.
While honing her skills in glass blowing, sculpting, casting and photography, Chelsea has developed her own unique voice and expression as an artist. Whether it be her cast bottles, paintings on cast glass or blown vessels from her Pebble Beach series, she is dedicated to her art.  Often working in glass is said to be a “team sport” and in this she thrives. As well as being talented she has a sense of exploration and professionalism within the field that is extraordinary.”

From Littman:
“I want to collect memories, transform them into something solid, something real. The nature of the casting process that allows for the immediacy of replication, of multiples, of groups, calls to the very human side of me that constantly craves more. The way it can be used to show all the beautiful differences, how dependent each individual is on the others, the way that they change depending on who else is around them, as people do, and how all the moments collectively create who you are now, the whole, is what keeps me coming back for more. Obsessed with bottles and frames, their different details expressed so fantastically in glass or concrete, there is something like alchemy occurring as these cheap everyday items are turned to light or stone. I get lost in the wonder of that magical possibility, the more of them I create, the more amazed by them I become. I always circle back to immortalizing moments, trying to capture time in a timeless medium.” 

DK Palecek
Nominator: Shannon Moskal, Executive Director at Richeson School of Art & Gallery in Kimberly
“What intrigues me most is the symbolism woven in the human brain that allows one simple stroke to suggest an intricate object or a complicated scene. I will never tire of the thrill of that phenomenon. My fascination with art, with painting, is a fascination with brain science and the power and plasticity of the brain. I focus on the link between the eye and the brain. The brain assimilates volumes of visual information in every moment and can translate it into a feeling or an experience within seconds. For me, painting is this process in slow motion. The challenge is not to lose this glimpse, this feeling, this experience, in the translation. The challenge is to provide just enough information to capture that moment. My ambition is to find that place where a single brushstroke becomes a solitary building or a whole street; a simple path or miles of landscape; the difference between warmth and comfort or solitude and empty space. I paint with this delightful, ceaseless challenge all around me.”

From Palecek:
“What intrigues me most is the symbolism woven in the human brain that allows one simple stroke to suggest an intricate object or a complicated scene. I will never tire of the thrill of that phenomenon. My fascination with art, with painting, is a fascination with brain science and the power and plasticity of the brain. I focus on the link between the eye and the brain. The brain assimilates volumes of visual information in every moment and can translate it into a feeling or an experience within seconds. For me, painting is this process in slow motion. The challenge is not to lose this glimpse, this feeling, this experience, in the translation. The challenge is to provide just enough information to capture that moment. My ambition is to find that place where a single brushstroke becomes a solitary building or a whole street; a simple path or miles of landscape; the difference between warmth and comfort or solitude and empty space. I paint with this delightful, ceaseless challenge all around me.”