In the Art Gallery – Works by Kristie Bretzke, Luke Hillestand, and Kamlika Chandla
Coal Room Series - Carl Bretzke by Kristie Bretzke
Kristie Bretzke
Biography
Kristie Bretske is a realist painter whose focus is psychological portraits. Her portraits are simple, quiet and introspective. Her images are presented in a straightforward and unadorned fashion. Her motivation is to express emotion and create a contemporary statement. Most of her subjects are friends or family members. Through her portraits, she has mourned the loss of her father and celebrated her mother’s cancer survival. As a lifetime student, she strives to see more deeply and speak more clearly. Though she frequently works from photos, her work from life contributes to her understanding of the limitations of photography. She has studied anatomy, figure drawing and plein-air-painting. These things challenge her skills, test her humility, and inform her work.
Website: https://www.kristiebretzke.com/home
Holly by Luke Hillestad
Luke Hillestand
Biography
Luke Hillestad started his painting life in the classical figurative tradition in 2006 with Rembrandt and Odd Nerdrum books open next to an empty canvas. He immersed himself in apprenticeship and traveled to museums and studios around the world to learn from the paintings of the old Masters whose tradition he seeks to follow. He then apprenticed with the world-renowned painter Odd Nerdrum in Norway and Paris between 2008 and 2013. His palette of earth colors comes from the Ancient Greek Apelles - a painter known for his grace. Working in this style Hillestad aims towards the primal beauty of humans at their most noble, with narratives that center on themes of death, kinship, ritual, and wilderness.
Hillestad states studying music composition gave me a sense for proportion and harmony - also, in a way, narrative - or let's say “poetics". The deliberate process of painting a face with dignity gives us practice in compassion. Time spent in front of an earnest portrait can leave the viewer a little more open, bit more trusting. I would say that my favorite paintings look as though they could have been made in any time, and they would also be chalk full of narrative. By timeless narratives I mean the stories that repeat regardless of geopolitics. These are archetypes: family, ritual, journey... the topics we each have versions of - the ones we recognize. Luke Hillestad's work has been exhibited in Norway, Spain, Germany and throughout the United States.
Website: https://www.lukehillestad.com/
Bearded Gentleman by Kamlika Chandra
Kamlika Chandla
Biography
Kamlika Chandla (b. 1981) is a realist painter and sculptor whose work bridges classical tradition with soulful exploration. Trained at the historic Palette & Chisel Academy of Art in Chicago and with masters in the U.S. and Italy, she has developed a distinctive style— rooted in realism yet guided by intuition and emotion. A lifelong student of beauty in all its diversity, Kamlika seeks to capture not just what is seen, but what is felt. Her portraits and compositions are meditations on impermanence, sentiment, and the quiet poetry of human experience.
eeply influenced by her background in psychology and organizational leadership, she views art as a dialogue between insight and expression, heart and intellect. Alongside her studio practice in Minnesota, she teaches classical art, mentors emerging artists, and leads her nonprofit initiative Doing Our Bit, supporting education and creativity around the world. For Kamlika, art is both a spiritual practice and a means of service—an offering of beauty, empathy, and meaning in an ever changing world, For more information/commissions, available artwork, exhibitions, workshops and weekly classes, please contact Kamlika directly at kamlikachandla@gmail.com, cell phone: 312 315 0938.
Website: https://www.kamlikachandla.com/