About

Bio

Kristen was born in Millbrook, NY in 1968. She grew up in a small beach town in North County, San Diego and is currently based in West Sussex, UK. From a young age, she has loved drawing, painting and crafting. Her anthroposophical sculpture training rounded out her earlier classical art education and helped give her work more depth and opened up a world of possibilities. She approaches her abstract painting with an open mind and follows where the colour and form take her. She might start with automatic drawing, blind contour, scribbling or splashing on paint and then looking and listening for what comes next. She finds it to be a fun and healing experience and hopes the viewer feels the same. She strives to create something beautiful that makes the world a better place. Her childhood, playing in rock pools and their microcosmic worlds, continues to influence what emerges in her paintings, drawings and digital art. Her work has been described as psychedelic, vibrant, playful, energetic and uplifting.

Kristen is currently working on a series of landscape paintings of the surrounding English countryside. By tuning into the forces of growth within nature, she finds inspiration in the colours, movements and interplay of textures in the landscape.

“I think Kristen is a very fine artist. Like true art, her work transcends the various genres and styles that one might see in it. I think there is a sublime quality that shows in the work. But, there is also a consistent aesthetic that communicates her philosophy, values, politics. I can think of others I might say the same about. Some of her pieces hint in various ways at Chagal, DaVinci, O’Keeffe. They sometimes feel illustrative, but are never stuck there, not technically and definitely not emotionally. I would love to own a number of these paintings.”

“Kristen definitely has her own unique style. I feel and can see some Van Gogh and Hockney flavors in her landscapes. That’s why it’s all the more interesting to look at. She has a vibrant and refreshing colour range.”

“I love Kristen’s style (with some echoes of Hilma af Klint and Frantisek Kupka). The colour combinations and archetypal shapes have a healing quality. The magic of nature infuses her works.”

“It’s fresh, alive and oh, so colorful!”

“So much energy! And very uplifting!”

Education

2022 Discovering the Landscape, Emerson College, Sussex, UK

2006-2008 Fine Art and Sculpture and Pedagogical Art Certificate, Emerson College, Sussex, UK

2003 – 2005 Artist in Residence, Waterfront Studios, Bellingham, WA

1987 Watercolouring the English Landscape, Royal College of Art, London, UK

1986 – 1989 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA

Exhibitions

2022 Projected viewing at Tate Modern, Tate Lates, celebrating the Cezanne show, London, UK

2008 Solo graduation exhibition at Emerson College, Sussex, UK

2003-2005 Open studio at Art Walk in Bellingham, WA

1990 Solo exhibition at Delish Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

1987 Student summer program exhibition at The Royal College of Art, London, UK

Kristen’s work is privately collected, commissioned and actioned for charity.