Gwen Ahlers is from Arvada, CO and is member of the Cherokee Tribe in Oklahoma. She creates paintings, and mixed media artworks, expressing subjects in a multi-layered way. Her paintings directly respond to light and shadow through natural spaces. Gwen adds Cherokee patterns and symbols that are hidden within her work using fractured light and painterly brush strokes. Her personal understanding of Cherokee stories and traditions are important to her work. The results meet the division between the realm of memory and the realm of experience.

"For me, painting is a way to visualize a feeling, moment, idea, experience and joy. I utilize various color harmonies, surface textures and natural forms. It is also a way for me to develop my own unique artistic voice with what I imagine and what whispers to me."

"Through acrylic paint medium, I start with a breakdown of forms from nature to anchor my colors and subject. This provides me the means to explore a range of possibilities through my choice of brush strokes and color.  I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, but I was raised in Colorado. The Rocky Mountains of Colorado give me inspiration for color and natural patterns to reflect a moment in time and place. In nature we often feel
we are not alone and that something speaks in a soft voice which delves into the connectedness of the real world and the spiritual realm."