ken
salaz

b. 1970

“When I sit down to make a painting, I’m not just copying nature. When I'm painting, I’m trying to capture every changing face of nature.”

Bio

Born in southern California and raised across Mexico, the American Southwest, and West Virginia, Ken Salaz draws from his rich Native American and Irish heritage and varied landscapes to create his art. After earning an MFA from Cooper Union via a Carnegie Mellon scholarship, he traveled extensively through Asia, the Americas, and Europe, studying masterworks and painting landscapes. Trained under Leonid Gervitz, Nelson Shanks, and Jacob Collins, Salaz is now a Senior Fellow and instructor at the Hudson River Fellowship. His work combines Old Master techniques with a poetic realism, capturing diverse light effects, and is held in notable U.S. collections and publications. Beyond painting, Salaz is also a skilled magician and mentalist, having entertained celebrities like Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon.