My work explores the human figure through continuous line—pared down, stretched, and suspended between presence and absence. Starting with pencil and paper, I trace the body not as mass but as gesture: a record of movement, balance, and quiet tension. These figures are incomplete by design, allowing negative space to carry as much weight as the line itself. What remains is an outline that suggests rather than defines, inviting the viewer to complete the form through perception and memory.
By reducing the body to its essential rhythms, I aim to capture moments of vulnerability and resilience that exist beneath physical detail. The line bends, hesitates, and reaches, echoing the instability and grace of being human. Each figure occupies space lightly yet deliberately, engaging its surroundings as part of the composition. In this way, the work becomes less about representing a figure and more about evoking a state—movement caught mid-thought, a body negotiating its own presence in space.
Koelle grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and lives in Los Angeles.
EXHIBITIONS:
August 9 – September 14 | Kahilu Exhibits | Kamuela, Hawaii | Kipaipai
July 24 – August 30 | FORMIDABLE | 4 California Artists | Wessling Contemporary | San Francisco
2025 | Los Angeles Art Association | GOSSAMER | Juried by Curator Bill Schinsky
2025 | stARTup Art Fair | San Francisco
2025 | Pop Hop Books Co-op | WHAT I HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT | Group Exhibition | Highland Park, CA
2024 | Melissa Morgan Fine Art | CELEBRATING THE DIVINE FEMININE | Group exhibition | Palm Desert, CA
2024 | January Arts | SMALL WORKS EXHIBITION | Moon Huts LA | Kristine Shoemaker
2024 | Shoebox Arts | PERCEIVE ME: NUDE PORTRAIT SESSIONS | The Other Art Fair | Kristine Shoemaker
2024 | Los Angeles Art Association | READY Go | Online exhibit
2024 | Los Angeles Art Association | CRACKERJACK | Juried by Ray Beldner
2024 | Los Angeles Art Association | POP above all | Online exhibit
2024 | Los Angeles Art Association | REPUTED | Online exhibit
2024 | Los Angeles Art Association | OPEN SHOW Juried by Andi Campognone | Gallery 825 | Los Angeles, CA
2023 | Los Angeles Art Association | SUPERSENSE Juried by Cynthia Penna | Gallery 825 | Los Angeles, CA
2023 | Los Angeles Art Association | FULL BODIED | Online exhibit
2023 | Los Angeles Art Association | SPECIMEN Juried by Kassandra Voyagis | Gallery 825 | Los Angeles, CA
2023 | MOAH/Cedar | 38th annual all-media Juried Art Exhibition | Lancaster, CA
2023 | Los Angeles Art Association | CONFECTION | Online exhibit
2022 | Los Angeles Art Association | HURLY BURLY | Online exhibit
2022 | Melissa Morgan Fine Art | Kipaipai Group Show | Palm Desert, CA
2019 | 6 Artist Pop-Up private event | Los Angeles, CA
BOOKS:
2018 | The Art of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse | Watercolor
1999 | Chicago Art Scene | Watercolor
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
2021 | Masterclass | Kimberly Brooks Workshops
2021 | Oil Painting Fluency & Flow | Kimberly Brooks Workshops
2021 | Advanced Painting | Kimberly Brooks Workshops
2019 | Figure Drawing | Delbar Shahbaz
2019 | Plaster Sculpture Workshop | Delbar Shahbaz
2018 | Collage & Mixed Media | Art Center at Night | Delbar Shahbaz
2017 | Quick Sketch for Entertainment | Art Center at Night | Marion Eisenmann
2014 | Finding Your Voice | Art Center at Night | Marla Frazee
2014 | Digital Painting Entertainment | Art Center at Night | Justin Pichetrungsi
2011 | Passion for Painting | Art Center at Night | Annie Lapin and Lesley Vance
2011 | Passion for Painting | Art Center at Night | Adam Ross
1998 | Drawing | Art Institute of Chicago
“Art is a collaboration between god and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.”
André Gide