Gwen Manfrin embraces the unconscious body language of the figure and, through a variety of mediums, strives to convey the subliminal intent. Her figures are placed in the frame without context to time or place, allowing the expressive quality of their pose to be the narrative. Of particular interest are young adults, who, struggling to find their voice, project mixed messages that provide an opportunity to allow the viewer to bring their own truth to their experience of her paintings. While Gwen works in pastel and watercolor, her early work was mostly graphite. Lately, she has returned to this medium, excited by the possibilities of this tool to capture minute detail, and dive deeper into the exploration of the figure. Gwen has lived in California all her life and has shown her work extensively. Her work is in many private collections and is included in the public collections of: SunMicrosystems, El Camino Hospital, Nordstrom Corp., Papercone Corp., McGraw-Hill and many more.