Krista Harris is a modernist painter whose work has its roots in the abstract expressionist tradition, yet embraces a style that is uniquely her own. Elegantly composed and delicately balanced, her work has a mesmerizing quality. Shapes and line appear to morph in and out of focus, colors shift like seasons, and subtle imagery whispers beneath the surface.

Vision

A “painter’s painter”, Harris remains devoted to the craft of paint on traditional surfaces. Her early years of working with the figure and landscape, and a love of drawing provided a strong foundation as she moved into non-objective work in 2006, and began to favor essence over appearance.

Process

Harris begins with blank canvas, linen, or birch panel, and then works in a variety of media, primarily acrylic paint. The piece begins with a process of mark-making, then Harris moves into the early piece with various drawing materials and develops the linework with gel mediums, pushing the charcoal/drawing material until she gets lines and marks she likes. She then moves on to laying in passages of color, “building up a little bit more composition and setting more of a tone for the piece.”

“I work intuitively.,” Harris says, “That is to say that I don’t have sketches or preconceived notions in my head. I just start making marks and laying down paint and seeing where it takes me.”

Statement

I can’t remember a time when art has not been the anchor of my life. It has been my constant companion and driving force for over 50 years. In the beginning my subject matter had its roots in realism, and I experimented joyously in style and medium. More recently I’ve been immersed in the mystery and emotions of non-objective painting; exploring the essence of a thing, seeking a distilled version of reality, like catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye, or seeing a thing before the brain has time to label and define it. Not being bound by any realistic representation or replication allows the artist to create their own language for communicating dreams, ideas, fears and hopes. It also requires something of the viewer…interpretation, feeling, contemplation. The collaboration between the artist and audience brings the process full circle and breathes life into the work.