Young artist to watch in 2022
Connor Liljestrom, Thousand Series #95, oil/oil pastel, 30 x 23.
State in Which You Reside: Wyoming.
Art Education: My formal art education is from the University of Wyoming, where I focused on drawing and painting.
Style: Restrained and spontaneous, or tight-loose. I work with settings, narratives, characters, and inhabitants of my home, the American West.
Creative Spark: The urge to create comes to me from just about everywhere. It’s what I think about most of the time.
Second-Choice Career: Woodworking.
Other Passions: Cooking and eating outside with folks you love is hard to beat.
Best Art Advice Received: Paint more and think less. At the end of the day, it’s about what I’ve painted.
Biggest Fear: Going blind would really throw a wrench in my gears.
Pet Peeve: Virtue signaling is something I find off-putting. Quirkiest Trait: I can usually produce a pretty passable cock-a-doodle-doo. I like to hit the neighbors with one in the morning just to keep them on schedule.
Favorite Studio Music: It about covers all the bases, from Marty Robbins to the Wu-Tang Clan.
Favorite Work by Another Artist: I had to sit down the first time I saw Mark Rothko’s work in New York. It’s hauntingly, almost frustratingly, beautiful.
Future Goals: Convert folks who don’t think they’re “art people.” It doesn’t have to be my art, but people should feel like visual art has something to offer them.
Representation: www.connorliljestrom.com.
To read the full list of 21 Under 31 artists for 2022, click here.
This story appeared in the August/September 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.