Artist Profile Tahnee Stockhem
Tahnee Stockhem, Wild Orchid, 2020, Black, white, and colored pencils, 27″ x 20″ (686 mm x 508 mm).
Stockhem’s sophisticated, lyrical forms reveal a surreal, hidden world.
Artist Statement
The theme has been ongoing for 10 years of abstract research that started during my years in college, La Cambre Ensav, Brussels. This is a vision made with a sense of purpose to show how the imagination can be stretched, how far it can go.
With minimum materials, such as pencils and paper, drawing has always been a fascination to me.
The audience is called to question their environment through the products we consume—what we eat in our daily lives. I use the process of expression, putting the power of the mind into work, where curiosity should thrive. This is where boundaries don’t exist, where we explore the possibilities of the brain. This is a representation of self-discovery, achieving beyond what society dictates.
My work fits within the context of contemporary art because it isn’t tied to just one specific aesthetic like Classicism or Modern Art. Even though my work relates a lot to Belgian influences from the Surrealism era (Magritte to Spilliaert).
The goal is to create an alternative to reality.
Artist Biography
Tahnee Stockhem (b. 1988, Brussels, Belgium) is an artist currently living and working in the Twin Cities (Saint Paul), Minnesota, USA. She earned her BFA from Ensav La Cambre in Brussels in 2016. Stockhem’s professional experience includes gallery assistant and curatorial internships, as well as a storyboarding internship with internationally renowned artistic director Luc Petit. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions, including a 2024 showing at Gallery13 in the Aloft Hotel and a 2013 exhibition in Clervaux, LU. In 2022, she held a solo exhibition at the University Club of Saint Paul, and in 2023, her artwork Retreat was awarded first place in a juried exhibition at The Pablo Center at the Confluence in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.