Ingrid V. Wells
Ingrid V. Wells enjoys using playful subject matter to address complex topics including resilience, personal energetics, and consciousness. She has exhibited her work professionally since 2010 in the United States, Japan, Israel, South Korea, and Ireland. Wells has produced over ten solo exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area with Glass Rice Gallery, Voss Gallery, Artists' Television Access, Luna Rienne Gallery, Olive Hyde Gallery, Harrington Gallery, and in Arizona with Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Public Art, and Eye Lounge: A Contemporary Art Space. She has exhibited her work in over eighty group exhibitions at galleries and museums, including The Museum of Northern California Art (MONCA), Mystic Museum of Art, The Museum of Human Achievement, the CICA Museum in Gimpo-si, South Korea, Tokyo International Art Fair, PULSE Miami Art Fair, The Untitled Space (NY, NY), Foley Gallery (NY, NY), Times Square (NY, NY), Center for Contemporary Arts (Santa Fe, NM), Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts (Walnut Creek, CA), Modified Arts (Phoenix, AZ), and was an invited artist for the ACLU Gala in San Francisco, CA. Wells has exhibited and spoken about her work at art schools and research university galleries, including Stanford University, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, Jackson Dinsdale Art Center, Skyes Gallery, Zoller Gallery, Diego Rivera Gallery, and California College of the Arts.
Her work has been featured and reviewed in The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, BUST Magazine, Create! Magazine, W Magazine, Girl Talk HQ, Creative Boom, NYLON, Audiofemme, SF Weekly, Hyperallergic, Flavorwire, KQED, The Jealous Curator, Teen Vogue, and other media publications. In 2019, her painting was invited to be featured as a cover image in Spain’s leading newspaper El País, representing the international women’s movement. Wells has received support from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation, Cork City Council, San Francisco Art Institute, and Arizona State University.
Her studio is located in Yelamu, also known as San Francisco, on the unceded territories of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples. Wells was named by Create! Magazine on the list of Top 15 Artists to Follow on Social Media. You are welcome to visit her on social. She was recently interviewed on the New Visionary Podcast with Victoria J. Fry on How to Bring More Joy & Self-Compassion into Your Art Practice.
Ingrid V. Wells holds an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute (2013) and a BFA in Painting & Art Education from Arizona State University (2010).
Contact
ingridvwells.com
ingridvwells@gmail.com
@ingridvwells
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
I’m inspired by playful subject matter that opens the door to deeper ideas. My work addresses resilience, personal energetics, quantum activism, and consciousness. The repeated representational forms I use provide a meditative state for me in the process and for the viewer, which keeps me grounded and motivated.
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
My mission centers around aiding in the quest to raise conscious awareness worldwide. This vision guides every painting I make, balancing bright, candy-coated aesthetics with layered meaning. I want the work to spark joy while also creating space for reflection and growth.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?
I rely on repetition and ritual. The process of layering glossy surfaces and repeated forms helps me stay in a meditative rhythm, which in turn keeps me focused and allows the work to evolve with clarity. My prep work involves setting the intention for abundant thinking.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?
I remind myself that challenges are invitations to expand. Each obstacle contains useful information that ultimately strengthens my path. I also trust the long arc of my practice, knowing that persistence, rather than perfection, creates momentum.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I hope my art radiates joy while also encouraging conscious awareness. If the work helps someone pause, reflect, or feel more connected to their own resilience, then I’ve succeeded. My vision is for the paintings to ripple outward, sparking both delight and a raised sense of awareness.
