I make paintings of animals suspended in open space, often set against skies or simplified natural environments. Each painting centers on a single figure, creating an unobstructed moment between the viewer and the painting’s subject.
These works come out of a need to slow down. In daily life, it is easy to move quickly and to pass through moments without noticing them. Painting gives me a way to pause and stay with something longer. Over time, that process has shaped the work itself.
I think of these works as moments between breaths. Nothing is moving forward and nothing is being resolved. I want the viewer to feel a sense of steadiness that comes from staying present.
I live and work in Kentucky, and my experience moving between Kentucky and Costa Rica continues to shape how I see color, light, and the natural world.
Artist Bio
Isabelle Ballard is a Kentucky-based painter whose work explores connection, identity, and memory through color-rich figurative imagery. Rooted in her Costa Rican heritage and her upbringing in rural Kentucky, she creates visual narratives that honor both intimacy and place. Her paintings blend personal symbolism with elements of the natural world, reflecting the emotional terrain of belonging and home.
From 2020-2023, Ballard lived in Costa Rica, working professionally as a tattoo artist, an experience that sharpened her eye for line, detail, and narrative. Returning to oil painting, she brought a renewed precision and a deeper appreciation for the stories held in the body and landscape.
Ballard lives and works in Danville, Kentucky. A graduate of Centre College and recipient of a 2019 Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, her current work centers on self-portraiture, nature, and the resonance between the two.