BIO

Xan McKenna grew up in Boulder, Colorado, taking inspiration from the American Southwest since childhood. Her work has been greatly influenced by her time living abroad in Costa Rica and Chile. After completing her BA at Williams College in Studio Art, she is currently located in Colorado.

In 2021 and 2022, she was awarded two grants by the Zilkha Center for the Environment to pursue investigations of climate change through visual art. She was selected by Boulder County Parks and Open Space for an Artist Residency at Caribou Ranch in 2023.

Her work has been displayed in the Denver Capitol Building, CO, the Lichtenstein Center of the Arts in Pittsfield, MA, and the Williams College Museum of Art, MA. In 2024, she was named a Berkshire Art Association Fellow, and was awarded the 2024 Frederick M. Peyser Prize in Painting.

In February 2025, she had her first solo exhibition at North Boulder Art District, A Current Beyond.

Her work will be featured at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO in November, 2026.

La Puerta Reluciente, 2021 | Oil on canvas, 5 x 4 ft

Seventh Day on the River, 2022 | Oil on wood panel, 6 x 12”

On the Horizon, 2023 | Oil on wood panel, 8 x 10”
From 2023 Artist Residency at Caribou Ranch, CO

Marshall Fire, 2022 | Oil on wood panel, 11 x 14″

Dreams Beyond the Smoke, 2022 | Oil on wood panel, 8 x 10”

Burn Line, 2024 | Film Photograph 

Another photograph from the same roll:

Grasp of Time, 2024 | Digital Photograph

Lines in the Sand, 2024 | Digital Photograph

Photograph below by Ed Rojas, 2022. 

Light Remains, 2024 | Digital Photograph

Chrysalis, 2024 | Watercolor, 9 x 12″

Thaw, 2024 | Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24″

Beyond Current, 2024 | Oil on Canvas, 28 x 34″

Veil, 2024 | Digital Photograph Collage

Aspen Shadow, 2023 | Oil on canvas, 12 x 12”
From Artist Residency at Caribou Ranch

Untitled, 2025 | Oil on wood panel, 6 x 12"