Born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1979, Angelea Van Dam grew up moving frequently, with drawing as her constant companion. A well-worn pillow and a treasured box of art materials travelled everywhere with her, offering both comfort and a way to make sense of the world.

After relocating to Auckland in her early teens, Angelea became “the arty kid” at school, initially set on becoming an architect. A brief detour followed when she joined the New Zealand Navy as a Hydrographic Survey Assistant, sailing the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Working closely with navigation charts and mapping quietly rekindled her creative instincts and left a lasting imprint on her visual language.

In 2005, Angelea graduated with a Diploma of Graphic Design (TAFE) and spent 16 years working across photography studios, newspapers, boutique design agencies and print houses in New Zealand and Australia. Drawing returned during long commutes, and sharing sketchbook pages online led to an international publishing career illustrating adult colouring books. She authored 13 best-selling titles while living by the sea in Port Stephens, NSW, Australia.

In 2019, following major surgery related to autoimmune disease, Angelea experienced a profound shift in both life and practice. Her work became more physical, intuitive and expansive, embracing movement, freedom and layered mark-making.

Today, she works from her studio in Salamander Bay, creating mixed media paintings that reference navigation, memory and fragments of lived experience, kept company by an eclectic mix of music or the occasional true crime podcast.