Ken Swanson

Ken Swanson was born in Superior, Wisconsin in 1948. His travels throughout the years took him many places, but Wisconsin always pulled him back home. He now lives and works in Racine, Wisconsin.

The path to Ken’s art career was never clear, but he believes his only training began in his childhood. His two major interests were whittling and collecting paper money. He liked the way the money looked, felt and sometimes smelled. He liked the intricate designs, colors, and wondered how it was made. He understood the whittling better. To him carving for a kid was a natural thing...and he became pretty good at it.

Eventually it was time to leave that childhood stuff behind and start making a life. Ken went away to the Military for a few years and upon his return became domesticated. Even though work and family consumed the vast majority of his time, he found that he had not lost his interest in things printed. This time it would be woodcuts and linocuts. He collected the work mostly of local artists: Robert Von Neuman, Ilsa Ulbrecht, Helen Johann, Glen Villwock and Max Fernekes were just a few. Then, as so often happens when life seems good, because of financial difficulties, the collecting came to a screeching halt.

Reflecting on his experience as a whittler when he was a kid, Ken began adding to his print collection by making his own linoleum block prints.This beginning led to 34 years of printmaking including 27 years as a full time artist.At it’s beginning Ken’s work was small, black and white, and simply depicted the objects around him. Now, after over 2000 prints, much of his work is more autobiographical and strives to investigate and define who he has become and where he fits in the world. Ken is a common man who has the ability to tell his story through his art. 

He has found that his work can stimulate the viewer to begin his own internal dialog and perhaps learn something about himself. It is this artist/patron interaction, this happy chance that makes it all worth while for him