Meet our Resident Artists:
ELLA NILSSON
Ella Nilsson is a portrait and figurative artist born to artist parents. Raised in northern New Jersey, and also in her father’s native Tehran, Iran, she currently resides in Austin, TX, where she has lived and worked since 2007. Ella holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Fine Art and Criminal Justice/Pre-Law. Since 2008, Ella has showcased her artwork in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Austin js a member of ATX Gals, the largest local female and non-binary collective. Beyond her artwork, Ella enjoys home improvement projects, aviation, documentaries, and cats.
As a painter and illustrator, Ella Nilsson explores the captivating nuances of the human face, using mostly grayscale to define forms and expressions. Contrast has been a reoccurring theme in her work, rooted back to the contrasting landscapes and different cultures in her upbringing. Her work leverages into the interplay of light and shadow to uncover the hidden aspects to her viewers. Working primarily on wood panels, Ella integrates the natural beauty of the grain and patterning into her composition. While utilizing photographs as references, she also embraces artistic license to create unique interpretations.
Working in a series allows Ella more freedom within the creative boundaries she sets for herself. For the viewer, the experience is akin to individual songs comprising an album. Her Shady Ladies Series delves into the interplay of cast shadows and faces. The Extra Shady Edition introduces an additional layer of shadows with hats. The Convex Edition adds a window of color into a grayscale world. To further emphasize that contrast, she employs a mix of media, working with both acrylic and colored pencil.
KAT SWANSEY
Kat is an Americana photographer based in Austin and the author of Texas Textures, a 144-page photo book featuring more than two hundred images, as well as Way Out West. She picked up her first camera at thirteen and has been chasing light, stories, and backroads ever since. Shooting on everything from everyday consumer film to professional stocks, Kat’s images capture the signature color, grit, and character of Texas’s vast skies and rugged landscape.
Raised in small-town Texas, Kat Swansey has long been drawn to the overlooked and forgotten corners of the Lone Star State. From shuttered beer joints to wide-open parks, her work highlights the range of rural Texas—its quiet beauty, its worn edges, and its unexpected moments of wonder.
Her small-town Central Texas upbringing continues to shape the way she sees: abandoned structures, ghost towns, and rural communities along the state’s backroads serve as both subject and inspiration. Her work has drawn comparisons to Walker Evans, William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, and other New Topographics photographers—high praise for a small town gal! Kat has been featured on NPR’s Texas Standard, in Texas Highways Magazine, Alcalde Magazine, Pellicola Magazine, Revolog’s film stock book, All Through a Lens, Fstoppers, Narcity, and numerous online publications.
When she’s not on the road, Kat can be found cheering on her beloved San Antonio Spurs, sipping tequila, trading stories at her local honky-tonk, or sitting under the Live Oaks with her grandfather and a Lone Star Beer in her hometown of Brenham.
PIXEL PERFECT ART
Cassie Gonzalez, the founder of Pixel Perfect Art, excels in high-resolution fine art scanning, catering to a wide range of sizes and optimized for print. Her expertise extends to producing top-notch archival prints using Epson’s SureColor Series printers, delivering impressive results. Additionally, she offers professional editing services to adjust colors, remove unwanted elements from files, and restore or retouch old or damaged photographs.