Artist Bio Nelly Kazenbroot is an artist, writer and illustrator living on Vancouver Island. Her artwork has been recognized by significant national and international juried art competitions, including Art Olympia in Tokyo, The Kingston Prize, Canada’s National Portrait contest, and FCA contests such as AIRS and Painting on the Edge. Nelly has also published and won awards for adult poetry and children’s chapter books. She was educated at UVic and Malaspina College, but is largely a self-taught artist and writer. Artist Statement began my career as a realistic painter, but I quickly discovered that I did not want that to be my end goal. Realism has remained a vital reference point in my artwork, but now I combine dichotomies to capture my own unique visions. Two-dimensional backgrounds compliment three-dimensional foregrounds, surrealistic imagery enriches the purely photographic, and historical art themes imbue contemporary subject matter with richness and imagination. As I move forward, sculptural and structural elements are also entering my creative process, as is assemblage art. This evolution allows me to feel artistically relevant in our constantly changing world.