Born 1969, Belfonte, Pennsylvania. Currently lives and works in New York.

American painter Inka Essenhigh creates active, cinematic, works of abstract expression influenced by oriental and Arabic art, 19th century caricatures, and comics. Essenhigh's striking paintings exist in a vibrant world of dynamism and suspended animation. Her strangely beautiful fluid forms and vibrant color palette work together to impress the canvas with a visual expression of the time and boundless world unique to her painting.

Essenhigh has exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues including the Saatchi Gallery, The Albright Knox Art Gallery, and MoMA, among many others.