About Chelsea VonSass
Chelsea VonSass is a mixed media and oil painter based in Northern British Columbia. She blends whimsical realism, expressive abstraction, and comic-inspired boldness to create vibrant works that explore joy, emotion, and personal transformation.
A student of the Milan Art Institute’s Mastery Program, Chelsea’s style leans toward objective abstraction — drawing inspiration from powerful moments, deep emotion, and nostalgic beauty. Painting is both a craft and a lifeline: a way to navigate life’s intensity and bring lightness to the everyday. While her other professional life often involves high-pressure problem-solving, her art serves as a balancing force — wild, expressive, and grounded in clarity.
Her work has appeared in the Sima Arts Festival, pop-up shows, and Salmon Arts Festival, and will be featured in a solo exhibition at the Terrace Art Gallery in Summer 2026. She has sold to collectors and tattoo studios across Canada, and her paintings are known for their vibrant storytelling, emotional resonance, and unexpected mix of softness and boldness.
When viewers connect with her work, Chelsea hopes they feel something personal — like they’ve found a piece of magic they didn’t know they needed. As a lifelong learner and creative mentor, she also encourages others to embrace their own voice and keep creating, no matter where life takes them.
Artist Statement
My work explores emotional portraits and landscapes, moving between reality and imagination through saturated colour, layered mark-making, and expressive realism. I am drawn to subjects that feel familiar—form, animals, landscapes, and quiet moments in nature—but I intentionally push them beyond what is expected, using bold palettes and intuitive process to reveal something more internal than literal.
Colour is my primary language. I use it not to describe what something looks like, but what it feels like. Through exaggerated hues, shifting light, and playful contrast, I aim to create work that feels alive—work that invites curiosity, joy, and a sense of connection. There is often a tension in my paintings between structure and freedom, control and spontaneity, clarity and mystery. That balance mirrors how I experience the world.
My process is layered and responsive. I allow room for experimentation, happy accidents, and discovery, trusting that the painting will reveal itself through the act of making. Influenced by both classical techniques and contemporary expressive approaches, my work sits in a space where strong foundational skill meets intuition and emotion.
Ultimately, my paintings are meant to be lived with. I create work that brings energy into a space, sparks conversation, and offers a moment of pause or delight. I believe art doesn’t need to be intimidating to be meaningful—it can be both thoughtful and joyful, bold and comforting, all at once.
