Annie Kyla Bennett is a painter and mixed media artist whose work is influenced by surrealism, visionary and fantastic realism, as well as botany and ethics. Her current focus in the studio is on remediation, developing a body of artwork exploring methods to help heal and rebalance humanity’s relationship with the Earth.
A resident of Asheville, NC, Annie is a co-founder of Art Garden AVL, a multipurpose maker-space, gallery and garden in the River Arts District, dedicated to supporting the growth of emerging Asheville area artists, activists, and creative community. She shares a studio at Art Garden with Medicine Heart Murals, a collective working to highlight environmental urgency through large-scale collaborative public art, of which she is an original member. Annie also founded Spectrum Geometry, an ethically and environmentally sustainable art apparel company, in Asheville in 2007. She is a contributing artist for multiple community-action non-profits, and a resident muralist and live artist at several national art and music festivals.
Annie grew up in rural Alaska, loves bees, and collects seeds, pigments, and tools. Her favorite authors include Daniel Quinn, Naomi Klein, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Michael Pollan.