Registry of Artists

Artist Bio: Krystl Louwagie grew up on a cattle farm in Southwest Minnesota. Her first artistic influences were a large collection of illustrated fairy tale books her mother collected, which eventually turned into an interest in comic books and graphic novels. In 2009, Louwagie earned a BA in Studio Art and with a emphasis in intaglio printmaking from Hamline University in St. Paul. She then moved back to her small town in Southwestern Minnesota, having missed living in the wide county farmland and proximity to farm animals. Three years ago, Louwagie became the marketing coordinator for Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, a non-profit regional arts council serving the 18 counties of Southwest Minnesota, with an office based in Marshall, MN. Working in this field has rekindled her artistic desires and inspirations more than anything else since working in the Read More print studio during college, and she is ready to start exhibiting recent works again. Her work often turns back to the bold lines and narrative qualities of illustrated fairy tales and comics. Artist Statement: Self portraits have been dominating my artistic work for the better part of the last fifteen years. I’ve finally stopped feeling self conscious about it. They inspire me to keep working and they come easier to me than anything else. My preferred medium changes throughout the years, but the subject matter stays the same. Currently, I work most with drawing comics of my daily life, illustrating song lyrics that inspire me, or working from “selfies” taken with my phone. Almost all of my recent work is done in permanent marker and in small sketchbooks or journals, which I often term “journal sketching”. I’m currently very limited for time, finances, and physical space to work artistically, so for now, I have found what works in a practical sense. What’s important to me is just that I keep in practice, keep creating, on a regular basis.