Tamsyn Kuehnert is an artist and writer living in Cleveland, Ohio. She considers humanity’s relationship with the living world, deeply inspired by her own observations and love of nature. Her work is psychologically driven, wandering through a sentimental and satirical world. Using comically rendered birds and humans as puppets in her narratives, Kuehnert pulls on nostalgic heartstrings and puts into question our contemporary ways of living. She has shown her work in multiple group shows at galleries including 78th St. Galleries, Cleveland (OH), The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland (OH), Gallery East at Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland (OH), and Valley Arts Center, Chagrin Falls (OH). Most recently, she has had her first solo exhibition, Mourning What’s Not Yet Lost, at Summit ArtSpace in Akron (OH). She received a Board Honorable Mention in the 2023 Student Independent Exhibition at The Cleveland Institute of Art, and was accepted into the 2023 Creativity Works Internship program where, using a grant from the Gund Family Scholarship, she put together a two-part workshop called “Repulp.” In this workshop, she worked with sustainability clubs and the Morgan Paper Conservatory to turn recycled paper into paper used for watercolor paintings using natural pigments. This workshop furthered her drive to make her artistic practice more sustainable and inspire others to do the same with their own creative endeavors.

Moving to the city I realized how deep my love for nature was. The duality of these worlds sparked my curiosity about how we as animals exist on Earth. I’m constantly questioning everything, expressing my observations, mixing them with my feelings, and then displaying them through my artwork. Through vivid colors and expressive marks, I’m interested in taking a painting for what it can do as meditation for myself and the viewer. With the advantage of nature’s calming effect on us, I aim to reconnect us back to this world.