Fanya Imholz is a painter from Oakland, California. She studied painting at Pratt Institute and Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, graduating in 2023. In January 2025, Imholz began an indefinite period of nomadic living dedicated to creative practice. Currently painting from a variety of locations in different countries, she lets her constantly changing environment influence her visual language.
In her multifaceted practice, Imholz uses contrast as a tool to create unfamiliar images, where contemporary objects are paired with visual references to art history and subject matter can be simultaneously humorous and unsettling. Intent on creating work that invites interpretation and storytelling, she deconstructs cities into puzzle piece shapes, assigns human anxieties to pieces of fruit, and emphasizes singular, contemplative moments in human subjects. Her paintings resist the automatic and indifferent interpretation of everyday scenes and objects, offering close observation and questioning as playful alternatives.
In addition to her studio practice, Imholz hosts an annual drawing event, Bananuary, on her social media, where she encourages both professional and amateur artists to explore new creative perspectives by drawing a banana every day for a month.