Mixed Media and wood burning on wood panel (8” x 8” x .75”)

Nate Hansen

Nate Hansen is a veteran, former journalist and educator, and published author. In 2020, amidst personal and professional transition, during a pandemic that required a new level of existing out of one's head and deeper within one's heart, Nate Hansen discovered joy through expression in the visual arts. 

What began as experimentation with watercolors replicating the various landscapes Nate witnessed during backpacking trips around the Southwest, quickly expanded into the abstract realms painted in acrylic on used or discarded materials, such as plywood and cardboard. As much as Nate enjoyed depicting his love for the outdoors, he appreciated the free-flowing expression of emotion found in abstract paintings in combination with the realism of landscapes. Nate began combining both genres into a form he calls "landstracts," which more closely represents a personal feeling of being amidst natural beauty.

In his series, “Source Code,” currently exhibited at Wyatt Gallery, Nate displays a soulful touch merging the rough exterior of a Southwestern community centered with an illusive spiritual essence that balances both the masculine and feminine energies. Nate’s miniatures depict silhouettes of Sedona landmarks rudely burned into 8x8 wooden panels, each highlighted with smatterings of neon and portions of sacred geometry. Though seemingly rudimentary, the point is to stress the work we all need to do to gain clarity and achieve that picturesque moment we desire.

Nate has worked with watercolors, pen and ink, spray paint, recycled oil, stain, and endless house paints that are rinsed from brushes and saved as individual colors. He's upcycled computer components, spent rounds of ammunition, bicycle parts, and decades old yearbooks. He has been taught in sculpture by the late John Soderberg, PhD. and has paid it forward by opening his personal studio to children of Running River School, a nonprofit school he co-founded. He is currently developing a solo show called “Frame of Reference, A Study in Perception,” showcasing five series together.

Nate has sold paintings to fund opportunities for the Hopi of Northern Arizona, Verde Valley Sanctuary, and Friends of the Forest. He has a series where 50-percent of the proceeds is dedicated to funding educational opportunities for Running River School, Sedona’s Waldorf grade school initiative. Nate has shown in Art Intersection’s “All Arizona Art 2022,” foundRE’s “STOP! Motion RE:Moved,” and Shemer Art Center’s “Geometric Repetitions”. 

Nate lives and works on a small ranch outside Sedona, Arizona.