Grace Hager is a Maine-based painter and ceramic sculptor. Her work locates the natural world as a realm of possibility: a source of transformative encounters that generate awe, revealing the magical within the observable world. Such experiences in the landscape stand out as moments where empirical, fantastical, and emotional worlds begin to intermingle. The landscapes she builds vibrate and hum with life — filled with resplendent, shimmering hues. Campfires, animals, and trees stand with quiet power, aware of their own majesty and magic. Her use of prismatic light and spectral, ‘rainbow’ coloring becomes a visual approach that gives form to these feelings, reinforcing that life is good and contains the potential for more beauty, awe, and magic.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a Minor in Art History both from Maine College of Art & Design. She has exhibited regionally and nationally, including at The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY; The Parsonage, Searsport, ME; George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME; MEPAINTSME; SPEEDWELL PROJECTS, Portland, ME; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME; Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Boston, MA; and the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT, among others. She comes from a family of scientists which has influenced her love of the natural world and fascination with how things work. Her best ideas come to her while walking along the beach or while driving country roads.
Alongside her own work in the studio, Grace currently assists her former faculty and painting mentor, Gail Spaien, in her studio.