Jessica Wachter

Experience = Art. The people I meet, places I go, emotions I feel - all of these are expressed in my art. In many ways, my work is not about art, it is about life. This is why people find meaning in a painting. They can’t always explain it, but they can feel it. For me, that is life – something we can’t always explain, but we can always feel.

 Wachter expresses these personal experiences through her use of color, texture, and composition. Her contemporary mixed media work is strongly gestural, often containing personal celebrations, struggles, joys, loves, and losses. Working with abstraction, the artist seeks to imbue the work with a tangible essence and mystery while keeping it open enough for the viewers own response.

Born in Bismarck, ND, Wachter graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Dakota State University with degrees in Art and Interior Design. Wachter currently resides in Bismarck, ND practicing as a full-time artist. Wachter works in her studio, where she paints, draws, screenprints and continues to explore with new mediums and the scale of her work. Many of her pieces reside in public and private collections throughout the country.

Wachter’s work has been shown in numerous solo shows and exhibitions, including solo shows at ecce gallery in Fargo, ND, a solo exhibition at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND, and an exhibition at the International Art Basel Event in Miami, FL. In the summer of 2015, she completed an Artist-in- Residence Program in Medora, ND. She has been featured on the cover of several publications. Design & Living Magazine has named her the 2015 & 2016 People’s Choice for Best Local Artist.

Wachter serves as a member of the North Dakota State University, Bison Arts Board of Directors and the NDSU Architecture and Landscape Architecture Advisory Board. She was also awarded an apprenticeship at Experience Institute in Chicago. At Tedx Des Moines, Wachter gave a Tedx talk entitled “Everyone is an Artist.”