Wendy Westlake is an American contemporary abstract painter based in Zumbrota, Minnesota. Born in Washington State, she earned an Associate of Applied Arts degree from Pima College in Tucson, Arizona, in 1992, where she studied painting, printmaking, and ceramics.
Rooted in her background in watercolor, Westlake’s practice explores the relationships between shape, color, and transparency. Working primarily with acrylic on raw canvas, she applies diluted pigments through pouring and brushing techniques, creating translucent layers and compositions that move between geometric and organic forms. She associates the interaction of overlapping shapes and colors with human relationships, exploring how individual elements influence one another within a larger composition.
Her work draws inspiration from American Abstract Expressionism, particularly the color-field paintings of Mark Rothko and the collages of Conrad Marca-Relli.
Westlake served as President of the Minnesota Watercolor Society from 2014 to 2016 and was the owner and curator of 535 Gallery in Rochester, Minnesota, from 2016 to 2017.
Her exhibition history includes Renewed (2025), Undercurrent (2023), and Initium (2021) at Veronique Wantz Gallery in Minneapolis, as well as Venerate (2025) at M Fine Arts Galerie in Boston. Her work has also been featured in Curatory Magazine and CanvasRebel in 2026.
