Radical Joy and Conscious Creation: A Conversation with Ingrid V. Wells
In the latest episode of the Art & Cocktails podcast, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Ingrid V. Wells—a San Francisco–based painter whose vibrant still lifes explore themes of joy, resilience, and personal energetics. Ingrid’s work invites us into a more expansive and intentional way of thinking about creativity, one rooted in emotional intelligence, spiritual presence, and conscious choice.
Throughout our conversation, we explored how Ingrid prepares for the creative process by cultivating a rich internal state. She generously shared her rituals for entering flow, her journey into energetic alignment, and how joy can serve as a radical, even rebellious, act of resistance. Her commitment to creating from a place of integrity and wholeness is inspiring and deeply moving, especially in a time when many artists are seeking more intentional approaches to their work.
Ingrid’s unique blend of playfulness and philosophical depth sets her apart in the contemporary art landscape. Her still lifes—featuring confetti, beads, sparkles, and other joyful motifs—are more than visual delights; they are metaphors for consciousness, healing, and the inner child.
If you’re seeking a thoughtful reset and a reminder of the power of creative joy, this episode will resonate. You can listen now on all major podcast platforms and on our site.
Photography: Kristen Loken
About the Artist: Ingrid V. Wells
Ingrid V. Wells enjoys using playful subject matter to address complex topics including resilience, personal energetics, quantum activism, and consciousness. She has exhibited her work professionally since 2010 in the United States, Japan, Israel, South Korea, and Ireland. Wells has produced over ten solo exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area with Glass Rice Gallery, Voss Gallery, Artists' Television Access, Luna Rienne Gallery, Olive Hyde Gallery, Harrington Gallery, and in Arizona with Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Public Art, and Eye Lounge: A Contemporary Art Space.
She has also participated in over eighty group exhibitions at galleries and museums including The Museum of Northern California Art (MONCA), Mystic Museum of Art, The Museum of Human Achievement, the CICA Museum in South Korea, Tokyo International Art Fair, PULSE Miami Art Fair, The Untitled Space (NYC), Foley Gallery (NYC), Center for Contemporary Arts (Santa Fe), Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts (Walnut Creek, CA), Modified Arts (Phoenix, AZ), and was an invited artist for the ACLU Gala in San Francisco.
Her work has been featured and reviewed in The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, BUST Magazine, Create! Magazine, W Magazine, Girl Talk HQ, Creative Boom, NYLON, Audiofemme, SF Weekly, Hyperallergic, Flavorwire, KQED, The Jealous Curator, Teen Vogue, and more. In 2019, her painting was invited to be featured as a cover image in Spain’s leading newspaper El País, representing the international women’s movement.
Wells has received generous support from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation, Cork City Council, San Francisco Art Institute, and Arizona State University. She has exhibited and spoken at institutions including Stanford University, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, Jackson Dinsdale Art Center, Millersville University, Penn State University, and California College of the Arts.
Her studio is located in Yelamu, also known as San Francisco, on the unceded territories of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples. She serves her community by running TWIRL: A Decade of Artist Interviews, San Francisco Artists Studios, and in her role as Fine Arts Assistant Director at California College of the Arts. Wells was named by Create! Magazine to the list of Top 15 Artists to Follow on Social Media. She was recently interviewed on The New Visionary Podcast with Victoria J. Fry on how to bring more joy and self-compassion into your art practice. She looks forward to being an artist in residence at Sample-Studios in Cork, Ireland in June 2025.
MFA Painting, San Francisco Art Institute, 2013
BFA Painting & Art Education, Arizona State University, 2010
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🎧 Listen to the full podcast episode
Art & Cocktails — Available on all major platforms
🖼️ Collect Ingrid’s work:
pxpcontemporary.com
🌐 Explore more of her practice:
www.ingridvwells.com
📸 Follow on Instagram:
@ingridvwells
📚 Booklist for Creative Enlightenment:
