Bio... or really just some personal notes that may or may not inform my art making practice
I grew up in a small town in upstate NY during the late '80s and '90s. I spent time with my dad and grandparents in their greenhouses and on their farm. I've been strong since I was five and my hands are not small.
My high school art teacher, Mrs. Saunders, taught me how to work with clay. I loved spending time with her, in class and after school. She told stories about her family in her twangy accent. She made sharing feel normal. She felt safe. She made art making feel safe. She never forced me to draw anything. I could always use my hands to create something instead.
In college at F.I.T., I dropped my painting class three times, each after the first day intro class. Then, with a little coaxing (basically the dean told me I would not graduate, if I did not take these classes) I realized I needed to get over my fear of the paintbrush. There was lots of crying.
There has always been lots of crying. I still dislike drawing.
I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts and a minor in History of Art in July 2011. Before that, I received an Associate’s in Fashion Merchandising and Management also from F.I.T. in 2007. Within the first two weeks of the merchandising programming, I said to myself I never wanted to buy or sell anything for the rest of my life. I finished the Associate’s degree anyways.
I’m just one of those people who follows through.
* Update 6/2022 Who knew that a decade later, and all the way across the country, luck would have me take a year off from work after losing my personal assistant gig during the pandemic, to go back to school for my cosmetology license. I graduated from The Paul Mitchell Pasadena in January 2022 with my 1600 hours and some of the closest most precious friendships I've ever had. I got my license in April and am currently assisting @ a coveted salon in West Hollywood. I guess I'm going to be a hair stylist now. I think Debbie Harry might have been a beautician before becoming Blondie...
At the beginning of 2013 I moved to the Catskills and lived there for a year and a half with a couple of other artists I met off Craig’s List. A brave, pivotal moment for someone who isn't brave. I was able to begin a sorting out of the things that were important to me. Starting to think about the direction I was taking life, rather than where it was taking me.
When life gets to be a little too heavy, I still like to go home to upstate NY. I can sit on the couch and eat a whole rhubarb pie if I want or watch infomercials for workout DVDs, or sleep for hours in the middle of the day. I used to get annoyed by my mother's voice incessantly reminding me there is always nursing school. It was always a surefire way to snap me out of it. Nostalgia, has me finding it, that idea and her voice, more of a comfort now. * Update 1/2022 during a recent trip home during the dead of winter and some arguments, my dad reminded me of that line "Sometimes Kris, 'You can never go home.'" It's true. There's no real going back or back in time.
Nature is sanctuary. That air clears away the smoke and there are no mirrors. Ideally (and hopefully someday) I'd run off and live in a forest again.
I believe in God. I don't know if that belongs in here but for now I think I'll leave it. *Update 06/2022 Confident enough to admit without using the word spiritual to hide behind.
I enjoy moments of solitude. It feels relaxing not having to contribute verbally.
Memories and dreams often play a role in my work. I am caught in-between blurred moments of the two.
I’ve always loved being told a story. *Update 12/2019 Someone just told me I was a storyteller. My heart almost burst.
I experienced radical consumerism as a young child during frequent shopping trips to the mall with my mother.
Since being out here in California I occasionally work estate sales and has aided me in finding most of my prized treasures. * Update 6/2022 Something new I've learned has less to do with collecting but more of letting go. Is this just what getting older looks like?
It feels like I'm constantly re-evaluating and honing in on something. * Update 6/2022 My friend Diane who runs those estate sales told me "in the last six years I've known you, you always say this. I just think you get sick of things and are obsessed with finding something new." She's close to 80 and if I'm being really honest, she's mostly right. If something sticks, it sticks because I like classic but I also thrive on trying something new. This goes for almost everything.
Finding space to work has always been important. Making a space your own and finding one that works for your needs is an intimate and evolutionary process. * Update 12/2019 Realizing to feel safe is necessary for my work process, and that is not a given.
I'm kind of a bit of an obsessive romantic about the ways we communicate. I worked with a vocal healing coach for two years in order to work through blockages I was experiencing in my body after having moved out to the west coast.
I like work that I can relate to the size of my own physical body.
In my opinion, to love, in all it's forms, might be the most important experience above anything else.
Cato, NY to NYC to Palenville, NY to Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California.