BIO
Torey Wahlstrom has been painting since she was a young child. Over the years she has taken art classes informally at the Art Student’s League in NYC, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Art Center in Pasadena, CA. In addition to teaching yoga for many years, Torey has worked creating original window displays for Anthropologie stores, and as Marketing Director for YogaWorks.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT
"Although I sometimes depart from the literal forms that I’m painting, I find the practice of working from life to be a helpful exercise in focusing - and therefore quieting - my brain. In the same way that I seek more emptiness in my mind, I’m interested in creating more space in my paintings. My goal is take out everything that is not absolutely essential. I want only the bare minimum of form to be left in the painting, just enough so there is something to look at.

I work on paper because it’s essentially a flimsy and ephemeral substance . . . a good reminder of the impermanence of all aspects of life. Paper allows me to work quickly and freely without getting precious or attached to an image. I like the complex shapes of organic objects and the freedom they offer as a bridge to abstraction."