Using mirrors, glass, and reflections, Betsey Hansell makes abstract photographs of a mysterious space between truth and fiction, revealing bits of the real world in the distorted confusion of dreams.
Based in Yardley, PA, Hansell is known for paintings of unmade beds and photographic investigations of suburban redevelopment. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. including solo exhibitions, Elizabeth Hansell: Beds at the London Arts Gallery and Beds and Chairs, at Lee Hoffman Gallery in Detroit. Her many group shows include: Soulcatcher Studio, Santa Fe, NM; The Curated Fridge, Boston, MA; Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR, Women’s Caucus for Art, Philadelphia, PA; and Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, VT.
Hansell illustrated Women Whose Lives are Food: Men Whose Lives are Money, a book of poetry by Joyce Carol Oates and was featured in a cover and photo essay in The Ontario Review. Her work has been reviewed in the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor News, and the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle.
Earlier, Hansell trained as a printmaker and painter in Detroit earning a BFA and MFA from Wayne State University, where she taught drawing. She also reviewed art for local publications. Her art career was interrupted while Hansell worked as a staff reporter for the Detroit Free Press. She resumed working in 2010 as an artist/ photographer in Philadelphia and New York.