ARTIST STATEMENT
I grew up singing and playing piano and clarinet. My parents were music majors in college. I’m a self-taught visual artist, and I live near a lot of nature in Lake County, IL, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. There’s a lake in my backyard. Music and natural elements influence my work. There’s a rhythmic flow reflected in my paintings; an ebb and flow like the waves and natural patterns I observe growing and fading around me. Time pushes onward. We all keep going. My approach is intuitive, and painting provides the solace that music gave me while growing up.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
A life-long artist, Kristen Neveu paints to clear her head and calm her anxiety. Born in West Point, NY, when her dad was in the West Point Military Band, she grew up with music in her family. Growing up in both Indiana and Iowa, she sang and played piano and clarinet. After graduating from The University of Iowa with a Communications major, she began painting in the evenings after work. Kristen’s paintings combine acrylic, watercolor, pencil and recycled materials. There’s a rhythmic pattern that reflects the flow of time passing, and these patterns are reminiscent of maps, floral patterns, and musical passages.
The themes in her work embody a yearning for the past, with connections to an unknown future based on unexplained fear. Selected past exhibitions include James May Gallery, The Saw Room Gallery in Evanston, Swell Gallery, Adventureland Gallery, Judith Racht Gallery, The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Barnsdall Art Gallery in Los Angeles, Polvo and Woman Made Gallery. Also skilled in photography archiving and licensing, Kristen’s work experience includes Getty Images, Warner Bros. Entertainment Media Archives, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
© Kristen Neveu