Anouk Wolse was born in Alberta, Canada in 1986. She began her Fine Arts education on Vancouver Island and went on to study at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia and Santa Reparata in Florence, Italy, before completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Her work combines figurative elements and found imagery, as well as art historical references. The obfuscation of the original imagery through mark-making creates a visually active surface where recognizable shapes and figures and the actions of painting compete for visual recognition