Stella Im Hultberg "Penumbra" in gallery 2

Stella Im Hultberg's "Penumbra" reflects a transitional phase in Hultberg's life and thinking. This new body of work, created on paper with a mixed media of oil and acrylic plus ink along with pencil drawings on tea-stained paper with watercolor washes, went through a transformation due her experience with a tragic family death and personal injury. While Hultberg's pieces have always dealt with various forms of personal identity, this recent chapter in her life has given her works a new twist. "Somewhere, deep down, identity is something I always base my works from, not just self-identity, but identity as life as well. I still believe that most of us spend our lives figuring out what it is that we're living for. Dealing closely with death and injury makes you realize the frailty of identity and life...Just that one moment you can fully exist and the next you can be gone" states Hultberg.

While the pieces she was working on already had a dark feel, the facial expressions of the figures took on a darker and sadder, even tearful tone. "I initially chose the name "Penumbra" for this show, to impose on myself a transformation and I indeed feel like I have transformed during the preparation of this show" states Hultberg.

Hultberg originally studied Industrial Design at CSU, which enabled her to become a toy designer early on in her career. Work in the design industry serendipitously led to her building on her natural talents as an artist and a career as a self-taught painter soon followed. Having grown up in Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan, she has a diverse blend of cultural influences to pull from.