biography
Goldie Stilson is a visual artist living and working in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She studied Fine Arts - Painting at Kendall College of Art & Design where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2012. Stilson produces large scale oil paintings on stretched canvas, and has a deeply rooted interest in printmaking and graphic design.
Stilson's work has been described as a contemporary take on the Modernist existential questions of life. Her use of bold, expressive color and naive style make her work uniquely recognizable. She takes her conceptual cues from a broad swath of influences which have been working in her life since childhood. Raised and schooled in the conservative Evangelical Christian community of northern-lower Michigan, she has managed to mine out a personal mythology which employs not only the influence of the church, but also influences as broadly ranging as Eastern mysticism to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Goldie Stilson maintains a close creative collaboration with her husband, Jake Stilson, a working singer/songwriter working in the West Michigan area. Her work was featured on his 2010 extended play release titled "The Chip on My Shoulder Propels Mi Forward."