Hi! Welcome to the english front page of my norwegian website. In case you are wondering about who Mona Stenseth is, this is the right place. 

I am Mona, a visual artist, illustrator and art therapist based in Porsgrunn, working from my own studio where my artistic and therapeutic practices meet. Over the past decade I have developed a distinct visual language through my original paintings, my illustration work under the pseudonym Emmeselle, and collaborations with museums, cultural institutions and private clients. My work is represented in collections, exhibitions and public design products, and continues to grow through both personal inquiry and professional partnerships.

My practice is grounded in a deep engagement with the inner world — the unconscious, the symbolic and the emotional layers that shape human identity. Painting is my way of entering the places where language dissolves. Symbols often arrive before words; they carry memory, longing and psychological truths that cannot be translated directly, only felt. Through this symbolic vocabulary, I explore themes of belonging, transformation and the unseen forces that move within us.

I work in two parallel modes. Oil painting is my inward terrain: intuitive, raw and uncompromising, allowing me to explore the deeper rooms of my own experience. Watercolor is more outward-facing: a deliberate, crafted form of visual storytelling and communication. Both are essential to my practice. One reveals what is hidden; the other articulates what seeks form.

I believe art is a form of recognition rather than explanation — a quiet meeting point where viewer and image share something that cannot be spoken. My aim is to create work that not only expresses my own inner landscape, but opens a space where others can recognize their own.

Alongside my artistic work, I run Telemark Kunstverksted, where I facilitate courses, creative exploration and art therapeutic processes for children, youth and adults. Here, I help others access their own symbolic language and the inner clarity that comes from expressing what is felt rather than explained.