ARTIST STATEMENT

"I can't remember a time when art was not the focal point of my life. It has been my constant companion and driving force for nearly 50 years. I received a BFA in painting from East Carolina University in 1977, but soon after embarked on a career as a graphic artist and illustrator. I continued to paint throughout the next 25 years, but as I neared the age of 50, I made the commitment to paint full-time.

"In those early years I experimented joyously in style and medium. My subject matter usually had its roots in realism, but I soon began flirting with abstraction and non-objective imagery. My move into modernism is the direction that has been intriguing me, coaxing me, pulling and finally pushing me forward for the last few years. The process is more demanding and filled with chaotic magic, focusing on texture, tension and gesture. For me, abstraction is about emotion. About sensing rather than just seeing... in the same way that music is felt and not simply heard.

"Working intuitively continues to feel more pure and powerful to me. The unreliability of the process breeds excitement and mystery, and I'm often taken by surprise as the editing and re-editing of the composition takes shape and begins to move of its own accord. This process, combined with non-figurative imagery is where I find passion and integrity in my art. I also sense an intimacy here between the viewer and the artist, going beyond shape or color or texture, and into a private and powerful visual narrative."

Krista lives on a 15-acre ranch in southwest Colorado with her daughter Yan Yan and husband Ben. Horses have been a part of her artistic life since childhood. She began drawing them at an early age and dreaming of the day she would have her own. She headed west after graduating from college where she met her husband, and their early years included managing a herd of over 30 horses. These days the herd is considerably smaller but nonetheless inspirational as they graze in the pasture behind her studio.

Krista's work has been broadly exhibited and resides in numerous public and private collections.