I am intrigued by the cognitive process through which we navigate the world. From diverse and discrete perspectives, my work questions how images are interpreted and contextualized to form our daily experience. How do objects, knowledge, memory, and environment affect how we perceive the world? And how does that perception form our sense of self?

In my work, I explore the cognitive process by juxtaposing conflicting elements to create a whole. The whole can be awkward, implausible, and humorous. Each painting, imbued with vibrantly colored silhouettes and sinuous strokes, presents an anomalous hybrid of forms. They invoke a spatial conundrum, where oblique lines yield to form but contradict the picture plane. By conveying these dualities, my work strives to challenge our visual expectations.
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Donnabelle Casis, formerly a Seattle-based artist, currently resides in Massachusetts. She received her MFA in painting from the University of Washington School of Art in 1997 and her BFA, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Connecticut in 1993. In 1992, she was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, and was also a recipient of the Ellen Battell Stoekel Fellowship to attend Yale University - Summer School of Art at Norfolk, CT.

In 2007, Donnabelle Casis' work was represented by Howard House Contemporary Art in "InnerSpace/OuterSpace" at AquaArt, Miami, Florida, and in "AT@HH," a celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the founding of Artist Trust in Seattle. Her most recent solo show was in March of 2006 at Howard House with new works from the series entitled "Hunch."

Donnabelle's work has been included in group exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, Tacoma Art Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), and the Hunter Museum of American Art, among others. In 2002, she received the Neddy Artist Fellowship in Painting granted by the Benhke Foundation. In 2001, Casis was awarded a New Works Laboratory residency from 911 Media Arts Center to create a multi-media installation with filmmaker Dave Hanagan entitled "Reverb." Her work is included in several public and private collections.

Donnabelle Casis is represented by Howard House Contemporary Art in Seattle.