Kristina and Fox. Yes. She has paint on her face. As per usual.
Bio
Born and raised in the sunshine of Southern California, Kristina Koenig has been interested in art making for as long as she or anyone else can remember. She received her BFA in Southern Illinois from Principia College, where she experimented with many mediums, particularly enjoying Figure Drawing, Watercolor and Oil.
Eventually settling in the Pacific Northwest, Koenig became an owning partner with Vilèm Stosek of Fotoeffect Studio and Gallery establishing it first in Portland, OR and now currently in Seattle, WA. An active space in Equinox Studios in Georgetown where both artists work and play, Fotoeffect regularly participates in the monthly Second Saturday Art Attack art walk.
Koenig’s work can be seen at her studio and various venues and shows around town. When she’s not painting, she’s traveling, reading, hiking or having brunch with friends. Come by the studio and say hi!
Artist Statement
Having been trained with a liberal arts degree, I have experimented with many mediums from classical figure drawing to graphic design. Though all inform my technique, it is with oil’s moldable texture and versatility that I can best explore the interplay of color, shape and our perception of meaning.
My work focuses on the seemingly innocuous objects of the everyday. Though these subjects are commonplace they are iconic by means of their ubiquity. As regular actors in human life, they are never free of meaning and serve as unconscious signifiers of culture, politics and personal identity. Using wry humor, I bring together objects and ideas that through proximity reimagine those meanings and give new significance to their societal underpinnings.
Inspired by such icons as Jasper Johns, Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko, I utilize thick layerings of paint and bold brush strokes. I build subjects from multiple angles at once, leaving image trails and shapes open to create a sense of movement. Reworking my paintings several times, I allow the underpainting to seep through texture and construct the happy accidents of vibrant color juxtapositions that provide the signature look of my work.
In an era of constant visuals, I create dialogue by removing subjects from their usual settings and amplifying the subconscious meanings of disparate objects brought together. Their motion in time creates the illusion that the work has arrested the unceasing pace of every day life and tapped into something fleeting. By creating a pause, the personal meanings viewers layer on every object mingle with the universal and recreate the paintings, once again, as their own.
Kristina's Homepage Oil Paintings Watercolors Cubicle -A Study In Blue Drawing Love In A Box Series About Me