Artwork / Selected Portraits

commissioned portrait of Academy Award winner William Hurt Judge Janice Wilson of Multnomah County, portrait by Portland artist Gwenn Seemel custom portrait of a little girl with missing front teeth Wayne Garcia portrait painted by Portland artist Gwenn Seemel painting of Fannie Lou Hamer speaking, portrait by New Jersey artist Gwenn Seemel checkmate in chess painting moment, portrait of the artist’s father fine art custom portrait of a grandmother, mother, and child portrait of a labor organizer, fine art by Gwenn Seemel rainbow hijab mom and child, double portrait by Philadelphia-area artist Gwenn Seemel author Carmen Machado painted by Philadelphia-area artist Gwenn Seemel glowing elf-child portrait painted by Lambertville artist Gwenn Seemel portrait of a Vietnamese-American Uncle Sam portrait of a Mexican-American Superman author and activist James Baldwin painted by 2026 NJ Individual Artist Fellow Gwenn Seemel Kirk Reeves mural in Portland, Oregon painting of a woman with a gap between her front teeth portrait of a bald man portrait of a blond man painted on monk’s cloth painting of an adolescent and a volcano Donald Trump the Hello Shitty President, painting by New Jersey artist Gwenn Seemel

Since 2003, I’ve created hundreds of portraits: these are a small sample of that work.

Sometimes, I paint people I love and, other times, people who love my work hire me to paint their portrait. Often, I create portrait collections, gathering individuals around different themes, like what it means to be a woman and what it means to be an American. Every now and then I paint celebrities, and I prefer to meet the people I’m portraying, meaning that some of the recognizable faces above—including William Hurt—are people I’ve met.

In 2026, I received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts on the strength of my portrait work. Learn more about the pieces that earned me the award here.

Currently, I’m working on a series of portraits of people from American history that the Trump administration would like to erase.


Download the project proposal!

I’m looking for an institutional partner who can help me turn this series into a collaboration between a team of artists. If you know of any institutions who you think might be interested, I hope you’ll let me know and/or forward the project proposal to them.