Angela Hansen is an artist of German heritage and an art instructor based in the Okanagan Valley. She studied at Emily Carr University of Art and Design and at the University of Victoria. Angela works primarily with encaustic, an ancient painting technique that uses molten pigmented wax. She not only paints with wax but also builds organic sculptures and textured forms by layering it. Wax can be modeled, carved, or cast, allowing her to create a wide variety of shapes and objects.
She sources wax from local beekeeper neighbors and makes her own pigments from natural materials such as clays, mica, and stones, while also experimenting with brighter colors like pink and yellow. Much of her inspiration comes from natural microcosms—mushrooms and the underwater world. Angela’s work is infused with humor; she is unafraid to step back from solemnity, play with visual reality, and embrace irony.
Her art has been exhibited widely in Canada and the United States. She frequently shows her work in the Okanagan, and her sculptures have been included in exhibitions in Toronto, Texas, California, and New York. Beyond creating, she also writes about encaustic for publications such as Encaustic Arts Magazine and Wax Fusion. Her works are part of the permanent collection of the Encaustic Art Institute and Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
For the Ore Mountains, she created natural, mushroom-like structures—seemingly edible objects hidden in a cave. These mycological forms echo the story by Rege Kienast, where the father of the main character named and concealed such shapes in his hideout.