Gaylen Hansen

About Gaylen Hansen

Gaylen Hansen creates expressive figurative paintings and drawings. He has been transforming the gentle landscape of the Palouse into tall tales and mythical quests through narrative painting for the last forty years. Using landscapes, animals, insects, and his alter ego, “the Kernal”, Hansen depicts a world that is “variously mysterious, dangerous, surprising and comical”. His amplified narratives are informed by his childhood in rural Utah, growing up in an adult world of farming and breaking horses and by his keen observations as an intuitive naturalist.

Born in Garland, Utah, Hansen received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 1953 and taught art at Washington State University in Pullman, Eastern Washington. He was honored with a Washington State Governor’s Arts and Heritage Award in 1989/90.

Artwork
Thumbnails

Gaylen Hansen, Still Life on Purple Ground, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60"

Gaylen Hansen, Three Tulips & Sky, c. 2012, acrylic on paper, 30" x 44"

Gaylen Hansen, Blue & Red Fish Swimming in Yellow, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 38" x 60"

Gaylen Hansen, Fish & Waves, c. 2012, acrylic on paper, 30" x 44"

Gaylen Hansen, Duck Boat, c. 1995, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 96"

Gaylen Hansen, Yellow Hill, acrylic on canvas, 2019, 52" x 60"

Gaylen Hansen, Robin with Worm & Red Tulips, c. 2018, acrylic on paper, 48" x 30"

Gaylen Hansen, Kernal Leading His Horse, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 60"

Gaylen Hansen, Still Life with Corked Bottles, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 30"

Gaylen Hansen, Striped Cat, c. 2000, acrylic on paper, 22" x 30"

Gaylen Hansen, Green Headed Ducks, c. 1990, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 31"

Gaylen Hansen, Black Birds, Blue Sky, c. 1995, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60"

Gaylen Hansen, Kernal on Horse Back, c. 2000’s, acrylic on canvas, 14" x 15"

Gaylen Hansen, Tulip & Black Horse, c. 1990’s, acrylic on canvas, 14" x 12"

Gaylen Hansen, Eleven Ducks, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 15" x 18"

Gaylen Hansen, Elephant, 2012 acrylic on canvas, 15" x 17"

Gaylen Hansen, Purple Trees, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 32" x 37"

Gaylen Hansen Composition - 3 Red Tulips, c. 1990’s, acrylic on canvas, 15" x 18"

Gaylen Hansen, Single Red Tulip on Red Ground, c. 1990, acrylic on canvas, 14" x 18"

Gaylen Hansen, Agitated Ducks, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 22" x 32"

Gaylen Hansen, Leaping Fish, acrylic on canvas, 15 x 17"

Gaylen Hansen, Woods, Hiker, & White Dog, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 55" x 73"

Gaylen Hansen, Still Life, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 59"