AboutAnna Schölch is a Swedish-born, German-raised artist who lives and works in Dallas, Texas. Her large format figurative pastels explore human connection and interaction through magical realist imagery. Drawing on personal snapshots for inspiration, she mixes distorted memories of people, animals, and objects to evoke familiar scenes and hidden secrets.
Schölch received her Master of Fine Art from the Institute of Art at New England College and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Illustration from New Hampshire Institute of Art. |
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My pastel pieces stem from my drive to capture the essence of interesting people I know and meet. I collage them into new environments and with objects or animals to support the magic realist narratives I want to tell.
Ever since moving to the US from Germany when I was 14 and feeling invisible, I have cared about making people feel seen, and I do so by incorporating them into my implausible, often silly, stories. I want to showcase how seeing and appreciating all kinds of beauty, strength, and vulnerability leads to a more fulfilling life for everyone. By painting people authentically but showered in a magical glow, I hope to encourage viewers to love my strangers and be open-minded to hear their voices. I build my compositions digitally by combining pictures from my camera roll and adding filters or adjustments to match colors and lighting. Once I have drawn the composition on large paper, I paint the main shapes with acrylic, mixing approximate complementary colors of what I will layer afterwards with pastel. In my current body of work, We Don't Sleep Much, the culprit of sleeplessness transitioned from worried thoughts to dancing Kizomba into the early mornings. Since then, I have been attempting to communicate through visual poetry what it feels like to dance with people. The pieces feature nighttime scenes of figures hit with a strong light and explore the intimate, secret connections and interactions between people in the shadows of darkness. |
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Education
MFA Visual Arts
Institute of Art and Design at New England College
2021-2023
Institute of Art and Design at New England College
2021-2023
BFA Creative Writing with Illustration Minor, summa cum laude
New Hampshire Institute of Art
2015-2019
New Hampshire Institute of Art
2015-2019
Exhibitions
Juried Exhibition. ART214 Biennial, 2024. Bath House Cultural Center, Moody Performance Hall, and Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Dallas, TX
Group Exhibition. The Spells That Bind Us, 2023. Roger Williams Gallery. Manchester, NH
Group Exhibition. Five Artists in Search of the Future, 2023. The Factory on Willow. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. 125th Annual Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition, 2022. Salmagundi Club. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 49th Annual Exhibition: Enduring Brilliance, 2021. Pastel Society of America. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 124th Annual Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition, 2021. Salmagundi Club. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 18th Biennial Exhibition, 2020. Degas Pastel Society. Covington, LA
Juried Exhibition. 28th National Exhibition, 2020. Pastel Society of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM
Juried Exhibition. Renaissance in Pastel, 2020. 27th National Exhibition. Connecticut Pastel Society. Weatogue, CT
Group Exhibition. Annual BFA Exhibition, 2019. French Hall Gallery. Manchester, NH
Solo Exhibition. Colors of Change, 2018. Eye Gallery, Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. Go Figure, 2018. French Gallery, Manchester. NH
Poetry Group Exhibition. Letters for Hope, 2017. Vault Gallery. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. Opera Tosca, 2016. Palace Theater. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition, 2015. LaBelle Winery. Amherst, NH
Juried Exhibition. 20 under 20, 2015. Blue House Too. Allen, TX
Group Exhibition. The Spells That Bind Us, 2023. Roger Williams Gallery. Manchester, NH
Group Exhibition. Five Artists in Search of the Future, 2023. The Factory on Willow. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. 125th Annual Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition, 2022. Salmagundi Club. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 49th Annual Exhibition: Enduring Brilliance, 2021. Pastel Society of America. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 124th Annual Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition, 2021. Salmagundi Club. New York, NY
Juried Exhibition. 18th Biennial Exhibition, 2020. Degas Pastel Society. Covington, LA
Juried Exhibition. 28th National Exhibition, 2020. Pastel Society of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM
Juried Exhibition. Renaissance in Pastel, 2020. 27th National Exhibition. Connecticut Pastel Society. Weatogue, CT
Group Exhibition. Annual BFA Exhibition, 2019. French Hall Gallery. Manchester, NH
Solo Exhibition. Colors of Change, 2018. Eye Gallery, Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. Go Figure, 2018. French Gallery, Manchester. NH
Poetry Group Exhibition. Letters for Hope, 2017. Vault Gallery. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition. Opera Tosca, 2016. Palace Theater. Manchester, NH
Juried Exhibition, 2015. LaBelle Winery. Amherst, NH
Juried Exhibition. 20 under 20, 2015. Blue House Too. Allen, TX
Awards
New Futures. The Other Art Fair, 2024. Dallas, TX
Kenneth Wellner Memorial Award. Pastel Society of America, 2021. New York, NY
Flora Giffuni Award. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, 2022. New York, NY
2nd place. Go Figure Juried Competition, 2018. Manchester, NH
1st place. Jerry’s Artarama Inktober Contest, 2019. Providence, RI
May Blum Sidore Gruber Scholarship for academic achievement, 2015.
Kenneth Wellner Memorial Award. Pastel Society of America, 2021. New York, NY
Flora Giffuni Award. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, 2022. New York, NY
2nd place. Go Figure Juried Competition, 2018. Manchester, NH
1st place. Jerry’s Artarama Inktober Contest, 2019. Providence, RI
May Blum Sidore Gruber Scholarship for academic achievement, 2015.
Publications
Change, 2020. Ayris Creative Arts Journal. Manchester, NH