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about anne

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Biography

I was born in Berlin, Germany. As a child, I lived for three years near Buenos Aires, Argentina. My first extended stay in the US was as an exchange student. After finishing my MFA in Berlin, I moved to Seattle, WA.

 

My work has moved from semi-abstract, room-filling plant and insect drawings, to paintings of detailed botanical and anatomical imagery on waxed paper bags, to my current work of young women and children on wood panel. The thread here being my fascination and awe of life on this planet and the connectedness I feel to all, but find hard to describe in words.

 

In the process of finding healing for chronic pain and fatigue, I have deepened my interest in shamanism, ceremony and the deep nurturing that nature provides.

 

In my work I try to be as honest and true to myself as I can without losing discernment. I aim as best as I can for sincerity, intimacy and openness in my paintings. In them I find the beginning of something that touches the universal. It is a place where others can touch the magic and sensuality that gets exposed in the process.

 

I think deep inside of us lives a longing to experience a sense of 'falling in love'. A visceral experience without words. For that to happen, this place needs to be free of irony and conceptual humor. I am looking in my work to find the point in which we feel a certain ache – the ache caused by the knowledge that life is full of light and dark, sacred and profane, beauty and ugliness, life and death.

​

Interview with Anne in 2023 by Art Squat

Anne Siems

"Look, I want to love this world as though it's the last chance I'm ever going to get to be alive and know it."

from  October, by Mary Oliver

Education

  • Master of Fine Arts, Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin, Germany 1991

  • Fulbright Scholarship, University of the South, Sewanee, TN, 1986-87​

Upcoming Shows

  • Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, TX Jul 2022

  • Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee,WI Fall 2022

  • David Lusk Gallery, Nashville, TN, summer 2023

  • David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN, 2023

Solo Exhibitions

  • Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA 2022

  • Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR 2021

  • Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA 2020

  • Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2020

  • Slete Gallery, Culver City, CA 2019

  • Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY   2018

  • Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA 2018 

  • David Lusk Gallery, Memphis,TN 2018

  • Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID  2018

  • Russo Lee Gallery, Portland OR,  July 2017

  • Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX, July 2017

  • David Lusk Gallery, Nashville TN, October 2017

  • Drawings, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA   2016

  • New Work, Littlejohn Contemporary, New Canaan, CT  2016

  • Woodside Braseth Gallery, Seattle, WA   2016

  • Works on Paper, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2016

  • Dream Lessons, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR 2015

  • Elements, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2015

  • Beauty the Brave, Slete Gallery/Obsolete, Venice, CA 2015

  • Edges of Mist, Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY 2015 

  • Old Growth, Grover Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2014

  • Part II, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2014

  • Trees, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2014

  • Healing, Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY 2013

  • Ceremony, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR 2013

  • A Careful Observation of Daylight, Obsolete, Venice, CA 2013 

  • Anne Siems, Wolly Workamn Gallery, Austin, TX 2012

  • Guidance, Grover Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2012  

  • Saints and Other Folk, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR 2011

  • More Saints, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2011

  • Paintings, Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY 2011

  • Wolpertinger & Other Creatures, Jacana Contemporary, Vancouver, BC 2010

  • Taxonomy of the Velvet Forest, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2010

  • Heartbranches and Strange Plants, Obsolete, Venice, CA 2010

  • Butterfly Flight & Other Stories, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA 2009

  • Creatures, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland,OR 2009

  • Birds, Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, Ny 2009

  • New Work, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland,OR 2008

  • New Work, Walker Contemporary, Boston,MA 2008

  • New Work, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis,TN 2008

  • New Work, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2007

  • Grover Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2008

  • The Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR 2006, 2007

  • Muse, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2006

  • Portraits, Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005

  • The Gift of Dream, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2004

  • Daydream, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2004

  • New Work, Argazzi Art, Lakeville, CT 2004

  • Home, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2004

  • Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 2004

  • Infant, Boy, Girl, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2003

  • Kinder, Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Valley, ID 2003

  • Children, Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR 2003

  • Bloom, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2002

  • This Vision, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2002

  • Land in this Body, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2001

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR 2001

  • Erde, Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Valley, ID 2001

  • Winston Wachter Mayer Gallery, New York, NY 2001

  • James Gallery, Houston, TX 2001

  • From Within and Above, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2000

  • James Gallery, Houston, Texas 2000

  • University of Texas, San Marcos, Texas 2000

  • I Gather Myself Beneath Myself, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1999

  • Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee 1999

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR 1999

  • James Gallery, Houston, TX 1999

  • Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Valley, ID 1999

  • Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1999

  • Thoughts in the Night, Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO 1998

  • Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 1998

  • Nocturnes, The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA 1998

  • Inside a Feathered Body, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1997

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR 1997

  • Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1996

  • Unfolded in Stillness, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID 1996

  • The Membrane of My Breath, Catharine Clark Gallery, SF, CA 1996

  • Botanical Vision, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID 1996

  • The Garden Behind Closed Eyes, Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 1996

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR 1996

  • Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1995

  • Ovsey Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1994

  • Cal State San Bernardino, University Art Gallery, San Bernardino, CA 1994

  • Oregon School of Arts & Crafts, Portland, OR 1994

  • Flower Anatomy, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1994

  • Works of Summer, Ovsey Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1994

  • Invented Memory, Bush Barn Art Center, Salem, OR 1994

  • University of Alaska-Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 1994

  • Ovsey Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1994

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Nugent Gallery, Portland, OR 1994

  • Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1993

  • Ovsey Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1993

  • Pulliam Deffenbaugh Nugent Gallery, Portland, OR 1993

  • Sorg Design, Berlin, Germany 1991

  • Light Band Gallery, Berlin, Germany 1991

  • Frank Wegener, Steuerberater, Berlin, Germany 1990

  • Hertin, Nordemann & Vinck, Berlin, Germany 1988

  • Cafe Ubersee, Berlin, Germany 1988

  • University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee 1987

Select Group Exhibitions

  • Believe in Magic  Antonio Colombo Gallery, Milan, Italy

  • Radical Kingdoms   Union College, Schenectady, NY

  • Her Story, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA 2016

  • 200 Years of Grimm Fairy Tales, Goethe Institute, San Francisco, CA 2012

  • Gallery Artists: Group Show, Grover Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2012

  • Taste at Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA 2011

  • SUBstainability, Texas State University, Austin, TX 2011

  • A Debt to Pleasure, Massachusettes College of Art Gallery, MA 2011

  • Group Show, Sue Greenwood Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA 2011

  • Aqua Fair, Walker Contemporary, Miami, FL 2010

  • RUST-German American Artists, Sanchez Art Center, CA 2009

  • VISAGES:FACE REVISED,Rockford Art Museum,Rockford, IL 2009

  • 20th Anniversary Group Show, The Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR 2006

  • Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2005

  • Reading Meaning: Word and Symbol in the Art of Squeak Cornwath,
      Leslie Dill, Leslie Anders Lee and Anne Siems,
      Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Clairmont, CA 2004

  • Works on Paper, The Armory, New York, NY 1998

  • Director's Council Exhibit, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN 1998

  • All Fired Up, Planned Parenthood Benefit, Ledbetter Lusk Gallery,
      Memphis, TN 1998

  • The Garden Show, PICA, Portland, OR 1997

  • Works on Paper, The Armory, New York, NY 1997

  • Out of Eden, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design,
      Kansas City, MO 1997

  • SAFECO Collection, Jundt Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 1997

  • Botanically Inspired: Geraldine Ondrizek & Anne Siems,
      Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT 1997

  • Memphis College of Art Biennial, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN 1997

  • Beeswax, Soil Gallery, Seattle WA 1997

  • Images That Make the Heart Murmur, Jan Baum Gallery, L.A., CA 1996

  • Tree as Icon, Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 1996

  • Seventh National Juried Exhibition, Viridian, New York, NY 1996

  • A Collective Endeavor: Artfair Seattle 1992-1995, Seafirst Gallery,
      Seattle, WA 1996

  • Gardens: Primeval and Eternal, Delta Axis, Memphis, TN 1996

  • Paperworks, Cohen/Berkowitz Gallery, Kansas City, MO 1995

  • Open Space, Victoria, B.C. 1995

  • New Art '94, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 1994

  • Art Books, Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1994

  • Flora: Artist's Gardens, Hope Street Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1994

  • French & Siems, Pulliam Deffenbaugh Nugent, Portland, OR 1993

  • Botanic, Sean Elwood Fine Art, Seattle, WA 1993

  • Issues of Response: Collaboration Among Three People, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA 1993

  • Notes On Nature; The Last Acetate Show: Memorial to Red Spot, The Palladium, New York, NY 1992

  • Figure: 7, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA 1992

  • Northwest Juried Art: 1992, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA 1992

  • Gallery Artists, Pulliam Deffenbaugh Nugent Gallery, Portland, OR 1992

  • Seattle Invitational, Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle, WA 1992

  • Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1992

  • Silences Gallery, Seattle, WA 1991

  • O-HDK, Berlin, Germany 1990

  • FBK, Berlin, Germany 1990

  • Klasse Petrick Bei Siemens AG, Berlin, Germany 1998

 

  • "Reading Meaning: Word and Symbol in the Art of Squeak Cornwath,

  •   Leslie Dill, Leslie Anders Lee and Anne Siems", Scripps College, Claremont, CA 2004

  • Updike, Robin."New work explores psyche." Seattle Times. June 3, 1999

  • Josslin, Victoria. "Painters analyze identity through botany." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 25, 1999

  • Bonansinga, Kate. New Art Examiner. June 1999

  • Updike, Robin. Seattle Times. September 1997

  • Updike, Robin. Seattle Times. May 1996

  • Smith, Tracy. Art in America. October 1996

  • The Oregonian. January 20, 1995

  • ARTnews. December 1994

  • REFLEX. March/April, 1994

  • Laurence, Michael. Visions. Spring, 1994

  • Adamson, Loch. The New Art Examiner. May 1994

  • Lave, Rebecca. Willamette Week. June 1994

  • Cowan, Ron. Statesman Journal. June 3, 1994

  • Spiegel, Judith. Artscene. October 1993

Select Publications & Reviews
Collections

  • ​Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK

  • American Airlines, Seattle, WA

  • Benziger Winery, Benziger Imagery Series, Sangiovese Chianti

  • Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID

  • Bullivant Houser Bailey

  • Fidelity Investments

  • Harry Connick, Jr.

  • Hallmark Collection, New York, NY

  • Irene Mahler Fine Art, Seattle, WA

  • Microsoft Collection, Redmond, WA

  • Mueller Design Inc.

  • Nestle USA, Glendale, CA

  • Nordstrom

  • Oregon Health and Science University, OR

  • Safeco Collection, Seattle, WA

  • Seattle University, WA

  • Sonoma State University Art Collection, Rohnert Park, CA

  • Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA

  • Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA

  • University Hospital, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

​

​

  • OCAC 90th Anniversary, Residency, Portland, OR 1997

  • Neddy Award Nominee, Seattle, WA 1996

  • Alice Rooney NW Women Artists Stipend for Pilchuck Glass School 1995

  • Artquake, Juror Ned Rifkin, 1st Prize, Drawing, Portland, OR 1994

Awards
Education
Solo Exhibitions
Select Publications
Upcoming Shows
Group Exhibitions
Collections
Awards
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