Amber Sena

Amber Sena was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1980. She lives and works in southern Germany.

Sena graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New Mexico Highlands University in 2003. After teaching art for a period in New Mexico, she studied at the New York Academy of Art where she received her Master of Fine Arts in 2009.

Skilled in both highly detailed paintings and drawings coupled with her strong passion for animal welfare and environmental issues, Sena chooses these issues as her subjects. For her paintings, she typically works in oil and acrylic on wood panel. For one series, she painted details of several animals on the verge of extinction. The two largest paintings she has completed address the plight of the rhinoceros and the trophy hunting for their horns. These paintings were exhibited in the show “Personal Structures – Crossing Borders” in conjunction with the 56th Venice Biennale.

Similar to her paintings, Sena’s drawings are intensely detailed and immaculately rendered. She works primarily in charcoal and pastel on paper that is then mounted on wood panels. Her drawings tend to be tightly cropped details of her subject. Sena has completed a series close-up drawings of dogs. More recently, she has dedicated the subject of her work to cattle farming and the rearing of calves.

Sena is often commissioned to draw portraits of favourite pets, especially dogs. Her pet portraiture sprung from her work being selected as the promotional material for the Westminster Dog Show in New York City.