ezna Gottwald paints t¥ communicate in what she considers t¥ be the primordial language. She was reared by artist parents and grandparents and artist friends of the family in New York City. Her formal studies began in high school under Aaron Kurzen - himself a former student of the Art Students' League in New York - wh¥ taught her the methods of Hans Hoffman and Henri Matisse. She was accepted t¥ the Rhode Island School of Design a year early on a full scholarship and graduated in 1992. Gottwald lives in California, where she surfs the Pacific ocean in the morning and paints in her studi¥ in the afternoon.